{"id":42828,"date":"2024-01-31T16:45:05","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T16:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?p=42828"},"modified":"2024-01-31T15:47:58","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T15:47:58","slug":"inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans","title":{"rendered":"INAUGURAL CROSS COUNTRY EVENT A HIT WITH FANS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>The inaugural Botswana International Cross Country Continental Tour will forever be engaged in the hearts of Batswana in general.<\/b><\/p>\n

The January 27 event was not only attended by sport lovers only and the atmosphere was so relaxing as most brought arm-chairs and enjoyed the day while sipping ice-cold drinks.<\/p>\n

For some, it was a first experience to see athletes live running on natural terrain which had lawn and defend obstacles amongst them water and slopes that alone made the competition very interesting to all those who were watching.<\/p>\n

One of the spectators, Kotlo Matlhaku said, it was her first experience. \u201cWe always see this on television, and today we see it live and direct. I don\u2019t regret being here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Phenyo Sammu on the other had said he was only familiar with track and field adding that it was very interesting to see athletes running on the lawn. \u201cBut my highlight was water obstacle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Although the Cross Country did not attract many international athletes as expected, the only international athlete French Alessia Zarbo was a marvel to watch as she dictated terms in the women\u2019s category.<\/p>\n

However, Botswana athletes, especially in the men\u2019s category, also lived to expectations as they put spectators on suspension not knowing who would making it to the finish line first.<\/p>\n

Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) president, Moses Bantsi thanked World Athletics for finding it prudent to give the country an opportunity to host the event at a gold level.<\/p>\n

He said not all countries were given the gold level rights by World Athletics, adding that was a clear indication that the athletics governing body had trust in Botswana.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also shows growth in Botswana athletics. If you remember, our track and field meet graduated from Continental Bronze and shot straight to gold. That alone was a sign that there was something that BAA was doing right, \u201che said.<\/p>\n

Bantsi said, he was also happy with the level of competition, adding that he was also impressed by the junior athletes as that demonstrated that Botswana have future athletes who will fill step up when the seniors vacate the track.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. The inaugural Botswana International Cross Country Continental Tour will forever be engaged in the hearts of Batswana in general. The January 27 event was not only attended by sport lovers only and the atmosphere was so relaxing as most brought arm-chairs and enjoyed the day while sipping ice-cold drinks. For some, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":42827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-42828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nINAUGURAL CROSS COUNTRY EVENT A HIT WITH FANS - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The inaugural Botswana International Cross Country Continental Tour will forever be engaged in the hearts of Batswana ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"INAUGURAL CROSS COUNTRY EVENT A HIT WITH FANS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The inaugural Botswana International Cross Country Continental Tour will forever be engaged in the hearts of Batswana ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-31T16:45:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2024\/01\/sm_1706703200.617178.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"744\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"INAUGURAL CROSS COUNTRY EVENT A HIT WITH FANS\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-31T16:45:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans\"},\"wordCount\":377,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2024\/01\/sm_1706703200.617178.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/inaugural-cross-country-event-a-hit-with-fans\",\"name\":\"INAUGURAL CROSS COUNTRY EVENT A HIT WITH FANS - 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