Mikia Kalati
THE Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC) has set the record straight on 10 000m runner Nomankoe Nkhasi’s participation at the 2016 Summer Olympics, saying he is part of the in Rio de Janeiro-bound team.
Nkhasi was the last of the eight-member team to qualify for the games, after winning a bronze medal at the African Senior Championship held in Durban, South Africa in June. Lesotho’s eight-member team is set to compete in the sporting codes of athletics, cycling and boxing
The South African-based Nkhasi had told the Lesotho Times on Tuesday he was in the dark about his participation in the global sporting showcase to be held from 5 to 21 August 2016.
“I have been training like I usually do, so I am ready to compete in Rio,” he said.
“The only problem is I am not sure if I am still going, because nothing has been communicated to me. I have not even received any training attire and I don’t even know the date I am supposed to leave for the Olympics. It is very frustrating.”
However, according to LNOC public relations officer, Moshoeshoe Molapo, it had been difficult to locate Nkhasi.
“He (Nkhasi) qualified for the games when we had already finalised our team for the Olympics. We were alerted about his qualification by the Lesotho Amateur Athletics Association and made it clear we would make preparations for him just like the rest of the team,” he said.
“We even went as far as contacting the South African Sports Confederations and Olympic Committee to help us track him down. In our efforts to locate him, we were introduced to someone who claimed to be his agent. However, another person later resurfaced saying he was the athlete’s coach.”
Molapo added: “We were confused and unable to get in touch with him. The person who purported to be Nkhasi’s coach gave us a list of items he would need for his preparations, but was later nowhere to be found.
“This was not our fault, and it is unfortunate that it happened just before the Olympics.”
