LAAA turns new leaf

Teboho Molapo
MASERU — For so long, athletics — long distance running in particular — has been the mainstay of Lesotho sport.
The country’s best achievement on the international sporting stage remains Thabiso Moqhali’s marathon gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia.
However, 2009 has undoubtedly been a year of difficulty within Lesotho’s athletics community, with no other local athlete winning any major marathon since Warrinane Lebopo’s Johannesburg Marathon victory in March.
The Soweto Marathon — part of the prestigious Nedbank Series staged in November — had, for example, been won by Lesotho runners for the past four years until this year.
The main reason was the unnecessary squabbles between the Lesotho Amateur Athletics Association (LAAA) and its elite runners which prevented the marathoners from competing in major races.
The bitter row, which erupted after Lesotho’s dismal performance at the Beijing Olympic Games last September, climaxed with the absence of Mabuthile Lebopo, Moeketsi Mosuhli, ‘Mamoroallo Tjoka, Motlokoa Nkhabutlane, and Lebenya Nkoka at the IAAF World Championships held in Germany this July — amid counter accusations from both sides.
Then in August, Lebopo and Nkhabutlane were hauled-off the starting line of the Nedbank Series race in Bloemfontein on the orders of the LAAA, as the country’s athletes were blacklisted by the association.
But thankfully, a modicum of sense prevailed and the LAAA and its star-lights kissed and made up in October, before Justice Maketela was re-elected for another four-year term as LAAA president last month.
Speaking to the Sunday Express last week, LAAA public relations officer Sejanamane Mapathe acknowledged Lesotho had problems in the past year but said this was now water under the bridge.
“We had serious problems around August and October when our issues were all over the media and people were accusing each other, but these things have been sorted out,” Mapathe said.
“I would say that it has been a good year. We started the year well by coming home with two bronze medals from the Southern Region Cross Country Championships in Mauritius,” he added.
With the infighting over, the biggest challenge for the LAAA — as its administrators have admitted — is getting sponsorship, if Lesotho is to keep in abreast with the rest in road- long distance running.
Mapathe said he was confident those scenes would not be repeated again as the association is now enjoying stability after the elections.
“I admit even before this year, there were some problems between athletes and the association, but now they know the association is here for them. This year, we have seen the election of our president and there is stability within the association. For the first time ever, we have a strategic plan that will be guiding us,” Mapathe said.
“We are going to make sure the association helps and supports elite athletes, who want to run in South African marathons.
“We have a good working relationship with our South African counterparts, which makes it easy for us to support our athletes,” Maketela said, re-election as president in November.
Some improvements have been seen at home as well; the High Altitude Marathon backed by Letšeng Diamonds, which was held in Mokhotlong three weeks ago continues to grow and this year had in excess of 200 runners.
But more needs to be done and after another year of missed opportunities, developments in road running will be scrutinised more than ever.