MINISTER of Gender and Youth, Sports and Recreation Likeleli Tampane has applauded marathoners, Khoarahlane Seutloali and his wife ’Neheng Khatala-Seutloali who will represent Lesotho at the Tokyo Olympic Games that kick off next Friday in Japan.

The Seutloalis are the only two athletes from Lesotho who qualified for the global multisport show.  

During the couple’s send-off ceremony that was held in Maseru on Friday, Tampane said: “Please go and show your potential and make Basotho proud. We are all behind you, so bring glory back home. This is going to reflect well on the Maseru Region 5 Games set for December. I thank all the businesses that have supported these two athletes.

“We struggled to get funding for this delegation but we finally managed. It is God’s will that we are going to be represented by a married couple at this year’s edition of the Olympic. There is something special with them, meaning they are going to bring us glory. I appreciate the fact that these two athletes have tested negative of the COVID-19 pandemic”.

For her part, the Chief Executive Officer of the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC), ’Mathato Makhorole also lauded the two athletes for making it through to the Olympics, saying they have been lucky to have loyal sponsors since 2017.

“The Lehakoe Recreational Centre provided space for training, PathCare assisted with blood testing while Storm Mountain Diamonds provided training attire, food supplements and stipends.

“Vodacom Lesotho provided phones that have applications which are going to be used throughout the games. H2O Company provided the athletes with water during training. Innograte provided branding material while Beijing XYZ media from China provided attire for the Lesotho delegation,” she added.

LNOC High Performance Coordinator, Likeleko Lepitla said Khatala was placed on the programme even before she qualified, after the LNOC was impressed by her potential while Seutloali was included after qualifying in 2019.