Volume 50 Issue 9 - September 2012 : Sports

And so it was that when the  dust settled, that our boy remained standing - breaking the hearts of many Ethiopians whose Mohammed Aman he eased past just towards the finish line and left Kenyan Timothy Kitum guessing what shoe size he wears as he beat him to the second spot, to the chagrin of many Kenyans.

Why, a month   before the Olympics Kenyan bloggers had written Nijel Amos off - perhaps in a bid to discourage him, especially as he appeared a very real danger to David Rudisha. Apart from Rudisha, the only recognised challengers to the podium were Sudan's Abubaker Kaki and Ethiopian Aman who many believed Rudisha could not ignore.

"Who the h... is Nijel Amos - Mens 800m World Juniors?" was the question in LetsRun.com. Responding, one Zlatan responded: "This guy runs for Botswana. He ran 1:43.1 last month. These kids are running fast these days. Interesting to see what this Amos guy does. Anyone know if he is going to London?"  Another, NativeSon responded, "I noticed the same thing too. This guy will be favourite."

However, their colleagues, trollism and Koneko, would have none of the news that Amos was just 18, hence a junior athlete. "Not a junior," wrote trollism. "Total fraud, and member of the trio that cheated Driouch out of his world youth gold," argued Koneko.

This prompted one blogger who i dent i f i ed himself or herself as Motswana to come the junior athlete's defence. "Nijel is a proper 18 year old. In Botswana we don't condone age cheating. It's surprising that when Nijel finished 5th in the junior champs, nothing was wrong with his age, nor was it wrong when he finished 3rd behind two Kenyans last year at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man. Just accept that Nijel is an immensely talented junior from Botswana, the same country that has produced the reigning World 400m Women Champion (Amantle Montsho)..."

Clearly the die had been cast at this point: the duel would be between Amos and Rudisha. Needless to say the much more experienced Rudisha is eight years Amos' senior. The competition was practically between the man, Rudisha and the boy, Amos.

Now with Amos grabbing a silver medal - the first ever and only one for Botswana - and 400m world champion, Amantle Montsho's exceptional performance at last month's London Olympics, Botswana has surely announced her presence on the world sports stage.

Amos' coming second to Rudisha has stunned the world. If so young, this boy could break his own world record that he set only a month earlier at the Barcelona World Junior Championship and then equal Rudisha's past winning time, the world could surely expect a thriller at the next Olympics.

This could not have come at the right time because as Batswana celebrate 46 years of independence at the end of this month they will do so with much joy and fulfilment, for the dream that eluded them ever since the country's first Olympics appearance in 1980 has now been realised. 

The dream, an Olympic medal for Botswana, materialised on August 9 and so unbelievably - thanks to young Amos. It was drama waiting to unfold because when the team left for London, there were high hopes that, come what may, Botswana would this time around stand among the winners at the podium.

None, however, thought it would be the youngest member of the team to break through where many had failed. After favourites, Montsho and boxer Oteng Oteng, crushed out in the finals and preliminaries respectively, least was expected from the remaining two athletes - Amos and Isaac Makwala.

Hope also faded when Makwala crushed out in the preliminaries. A flicker of hope illuminated many a sombre heart when Amos won his heat and semi-final with an impressive record of 1:45:73. His was fourth best time and it appeared it would be quite a steep climb for the Marobela teenager. Yet, united the nation waited expectantly, willing him on, wishing him on. A miracle was beckoning.

What ensued is best captured by veteran journalist, Andrew Sesinyi, in the first part of his Facebook status which reads: "Saving the best for last and proving that the best in Olympics is not necessarily the best of winners but the size or capacity of the human spirit.." And here is what one blogger wrote: "Nijel Amos is the most superb 800m runner that I've ever seen. Where the others are working hard, he's virtually floating along...I wasn't planning to watch this event... I'm glad for seeing this race, as it was the fastest and greatest 800m race ever," writes one J.R. in LetsRun.com after witnessing Amos clock 1:41:73 behind Rudisha's 1:40:90.

And indeed it was the fastest in recorded human history. The eighth position in this year's Olympics would have been the second position in the 2008 Olympics! So we are told.

In 2016 Brazil Olympics, Amos will be 22 and a whole lot more seasoned. Rudisha - if he will still be running, will be 30. In fact there already is what appears to be international consensus that the real winner in this race was Amos, owing to his age and his status as really, a nonentity.

Any 800m athlete must from now henceforth treat this new king of the track with respect. This young man clocks a different but much better time whenever he goes on track. Consider this: When he scooped a bronze medal at the 2011 African Junior Championship he clocked 1:47:28.

He then went on to reduce his time in Pretoria, South Africa, where he set a new personal best of 1:46:21.

He would prove his mettle at the World Junior Athletics Championships, where he became champion and the first Motswana to win gold after he registered 1:43:79 in Barcelona, Spain. Amos went on to improve his time to "A" standard after clocking 1:43:11 at the German Olympic Qualification Meet in Mannheim

on June 9, thereby smashing the national 800m record set by Glody Dube in France in 2001. The ninth day of the month seems to be his lucky day as he again made history scooping the first Olympic medal for the country and breaking his personal best time to 1:41:73.

It was fitting that Amos was anointed the 2011 Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) junior sportsman of the year. Amos is proof that Botswana has a lot of talent sitting in schools and walking the pathways. As we celebrate Amos, we would do well to simultaneously start preparations for the next Olympic Games. This should be done with earnest while we all still have the Olympics momentum. There is no doubt that our athletes will bring home more medals if we do it NOW. ENDS

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