AMANTLE MONTSHO

Amantle Montsho?is the woman of the moment.Not only is she the fastest woman in the world, but the reigning world champion in 400 meters; so what can we say? All eyes are on her at the summer games in London. With great power comes great responsibility, but this young 29 year old appears to be unfazed by the pressure.

Amantle has been running her whole life. as a young girl, she would chase ostriches with her siblings and her strength and agility did not go unnoticed by her grandfather who described her as ?a young girl who runs like a boy?. While we know that anything a boy can do, a girl can do better, in that time and age that spoke volumes of her ability.

Despite the limitations of poor infrastructure and the perceptions of female athletes at the time, she excelled in the sport and ascended beyond her peers. She took advantage of any open space available to her and pursued her passion for sprints. Her efforts were not lost on members of the Botswana Sports National Council who had begun to take notice of her. Realizing with time that her skills lay in long distance relays, she moved on to 400 meter races. She eventually moved to Dakar, Senegal where she was able to train at a more advanced facility, and the rest, shall we say, is history. She has begun to build a legacy that will be with her for the rest of her life.

She stunned the world by winning the world championships last summer and placed 8th?in the 400 meters dash at the Beijing Olympics. She has become a Batswana icon who has inspired other young women to pursue the sport.

Amantle currently has a sponsorship with Nike, which we must say is quite appropro. She takes the phrase??Just do it!??? to a different level.

We wish her the best this summer!