Bogatsu: A rising Taekwondo star

Oarabile Bogatsu of Botswana Taekwondo Federation had to battle racism when studying in Malaysia for him to become one of the finest Taekwondo athletes in Botswana. Being an aspiring black athlete based in a foreign country back in 2008 seemed more like a curse than a blessing to him. Today he proudly lifts his 3rd Dan Black Belt and chases the Grandmaster title. He might just become the first grandmaster to ever come out of Botswana given his deep desire and ambition. The 30 year- old Bogatsu fell in love with Taekwondo for the very first time when he was studying Software Engineering in Malaysia. “I tried Karate but it was not exciting enough for me until one day when I walked out of class and saw Taekwondo athletes flying everywhere, I was instantly hooked,” Bogatsu said.Bogatsu fell straight into the blessed hands of Master Tony Lee. Lee as Bogatsu describes him was such a pain; well at least in a caring and sweet manner. He pushed him to be what he never thought he would become, an athlete of repute. “He was not one for many words, his question was if I really wanted to be a champion, my response to that is what changed my life forever,” Bogatsu said. A few months down the line Bogatsu won gold during his maiden Malaysian University Taekwondo Championships. It was a scary affair as he was fighting athletes from different countries. Since then he never backed down, with his lips strongly pressed together, he held firmly to the championship title for three consecutive years since 2008. Dethroning the Malaysian national team champion, who was highly praised in his home country, was enough to send a strong signal that he also, was equally capable. However, it had to take another round of convincing results for him to be considered capable. “I remember defeating one Asian athlete who failed to accept that he was defeated by a black person. He went all racist on me and it left me deeply hurt,” Bogatsu said.It did not only end there, at times, when he stepped into the elevator, they will all go out leaving him to use the elevator alone. “They at one point got used to the idea of Africans because during my time, there were only a few of us there,” he said.Bogatsu returned to Botswana in 2012 and continued his journey with coach Gladys Njoroge. He continued to dominate under her coaching style, winning against the likes of Lesotho, Mozambique and South Africa. He now sits in the executive committee of Taekwondo Botswana as Secretary General. The ambitious Bogatsu took a break from active fighting this year and will be returning to the ring in full swing next year. He has five more stages to reach before he finally becomes a grandmaster. “No matter how long it takes I will attain that grandmaster title, that is my ultimate goal,” Bogatsu said. His greatest achievement will be sharing the ring with Korean athlete, Lee D