Athlete Mokgethi tests positive for banned substance

According to a statement by the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC), a sample collected from the 800m athlete tested positive to a prohibited substance, 19-norandrosterone. The substance is an Anabolic Androgenic Steroid (AAS), classified under S.1.1 Anabolic Agents under the 2026 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited list. “The BNOC collected the sample from Mokgethi during in-competition tests conducted on April 4, 2026.

The athlete has been notified of the AAS and mandatory provisional suspension from sport and associated activities. At this stage, the athlete is presumed innocent unless and until proven otherwise through the full adjudicatory process,” the statement reads. BNOC said in the statement that the case would be processed in line with the WADA code and the International Standard for Results Management (ISRM) to ensure fair, independent, and impartial outcomes.

It is a clear signal that the government’s purse is empty and that our own behaviour has left veterinary officials fighting with one hand tied behind their backs. We have been here before. During COVID-19, many of us thought we knew better.

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We ignored simple rules, we carried on as if the danger was someone else’s problem, and the virus took lives and left our economy on its knees. We are still broke from that experience. Yet now, with FMD…

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