China's performance at major global sporting competitions is an inspiration to Botswana and other African countries and regions, a Botswana official said Thursday.

Tuelo Serufho, the Botswana National Sports Commission chief executive officer, made this observation in a speech at the commission's annual general meeting held in Botswana's capital Gaborone.

"China is a big inspiration to Botswana and many other African countries and regions thanks to its excellent performance at the Olympics and other major global events," said Serufho, adding that China's performance has inspired Botswana to believe that it too can thrive at major events.

China is consistently in the top three at each Olympic Games and has given a lot of countries and regions across the globe a run for their money, said Serufho.

"It is not by default that [the Chinese] are in the top three all the time. China has got long-term strategies in place in terms of planning for the Olympic Games - something that gives them an added advantage compared to other countries," he said.

While other countries and regions are preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Serufho said it is not a surprise that China is preparing and assembling a strong team to compete at the 2028 or 2032 Olympic Games.

Planning well in advance for the Olympics is one of many things that Botswana can learn from China, he said.

Botswana is expected to send at least 50 athletes to the Tokyo Games, which were originally scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 9, 2020, but were postponed by 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

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