Botswana - Sports

Sports

See also: Botswana at the Olympics

Football is the most popular sport in Botswana, with qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations being the biggest achievement to date. Other popular sports are cricket, tennis, rugby, softball, handball, golf and track and field. Botswana is an associate member of the International Cricket Council.

Botswana won its first Olympic medal in 2012 when Nijel Amos won silver in the 800 metres. In 2011 Amantle Montsho became world champion in the 400 metres and won Botswana's first athletics medal on the world level. Another famous Botswana athlete is high jumper Kabelo Kgosiemang, three times African champion.

The card game bridge has a strong following; it was first played in Botswana over 30 years ago and grew in popularity during the 1980s. Many British expatriate school teachers informally taught the game in Botswana’s secondary schools. The Botswana Bridge Federation (BBF) was founded in 1988 and continues to organize tournaments. Bridge has remained popular and the BBF has over 800 members. In 2007, the BBF invited the English Bridge Union to host a week-long teaching program in May 2008.

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Famous quotes containing the word sports:

    “Guys do not have a genetic blueprint that allows them to understand or love sports.”
    —Lesley Visser, U.S. sports reporter and announcer. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 82 (June 17, 1991)

    “The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What’s the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?”
    —Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)

    “...I didn’t come to this with any particular cachet. I was just a person who grew up in the United States. And when I looked around at the people who were sportscasters, I thought they were just people who grew up in the United States, too. So I thought, Why can’t a woman do it? I just assumed everyone else would think it was a swell idea.”
    —Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 85 (June 17, 1991)