Moorosi Tsiane
RAMOLEFI Motsieloa clocked 2:14:44 to win the Gaborone City Marathon last weekend in Botswana but still failed to qualify for the World Championships which will be staged in September in Doha, Qatar.
Middle distance runner Mokulubete Makatise won the half marathon in the women’s category clocking 1:18:36 while her compatriot Ntebaleng Letšela clocked 1:22:18 and came third.
According to the Lesotho Amateur Athletics Association (LAAA) spokesperson, Sejanamane Maphathe, although Motsieloa did so well, there is still a lot more that he needs to do to qualify for the World Championships later this year.
Maphathe said Ramotsieloa needed to clock 2 hours 14 minutes to reach the qualifying standards.
“He did well because he won the race but unfortunately, he missed the qualifying time by 44 seconds,” Maphathe told the Lesotho Times.
“There is still a lot that needs to be done although his time was not too bad. If he can at least get a race in Europe, maybe he can still qualify. It’s not going to be easy, so he needs to work harder.”
Maphathe said so far, they have two athletes namely Neheng Khatala and Motlokoa Nkhabutlane who have qualified for the World Champs in marathon.
“Neheng and Motlokoa have so far booked their places in marathon. There is still time and we hope the numbers will increase as the tournament approaches but it would have been nice to see our athletes qualify early so that they have enough time to prepare for the competitions,” Maphathe said.
He also added that they are still banking on sprinter Mosito Lehata to qualify.
“He (Mosito) ran 10:21 and we are still hopping that he will cut down his time to at least 10:05 to book a spot.
“He has just returned from an injury but we think provided he is fit by July or latest August, he will be running those times which can qualify him,” Maphathe said.
