Africa-Press – Botswana. Despite recent renovations on it, the track at the National Stadium in Gaborone still requires additional improvements well before the 2026 World Athletics Relays get underway in winter next year.
As Botswana prepares to host the World Athletics Relays next year, the track at National Stadium in Gaborone is still in need of further enhancements to meet international standards.
The World Athletics Council recently announced that Gaborone will host the championship on 2 and 3 May 2026. This marks a significant milestone for Botswana and the African continent after China hosted the competition recently.
Renovations on the stadium track began late last year and were initially scheduled for completion by 31 March 2025. However, due to various challenges, including stormy weather, the upgrades were not finished on time.
“Practical completion”
This situation resulted in work going up to within an hour before the FNB Golden Grand Prix got underway on 12 April 2025.
The Director of Business Development & Property Management Services at the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC), Makuke Makuke, nevertheless described the track as being in a state of “practical completion” at the time.
“This means it could be used even if some work was still pending,” he said in a telephone interview this week. “That is what happened during the time.”
Strengthening layer
Meanwhile, contrary to reports doing the rounds, Makuke said the track will not undergo complete reconstruction and that the focus will be on enhancing the existing structure.
“We are not going to construct an entirely new track,” he stated. “Instead, we will apply what is called a strengthening layer. This involves adding two additional blue layers and remarking the entire track to ensure that it is fully ready for use.”
To ensure proper adhesion of the new layers, Makuke said the existing blue layer will be sandblasted before applying the strengthening layer. These improvements are aimed at fully preparing the track for next year’s global event.
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