Golden Grand Prix seeks P11m support

Organizers of the Golden Grand Prix, Golden Door Sport Agency (GDSA), are racing against time to solicit financial support or partners to successfully stage their event billed for the 28th of April 2026.Although there are no impending doubts on whether the event will take place or not, the P11 million budget continues to give event organizers sleepless nights.The event is a World Athletics continental tour and was downgraded from gold to silver last year after administrative and logistical mishaps, however top athletes from around the world are still expected to grace the event.This was highlighted by the Public Relations Officer of the event, Calistus Kolantsho, who remains confident that they will pull off a spectacular and a fun filled day of athletics.“We are looking at around P11 million, it is more or less the same budget as of last year. The difference between gold and silver events is not that much. The officials, volunteers and the level of athletes remain the same, that is why our budget remains at P11 million. The only major difference is the prize money allocation and remuneration of competing athletes,” Kolantsho BG Sport.Despite the downgrading of the event, the event organizers are not about to drop the ball as they look to retain the Gold status.Last year, FNB Botswana (FNBB) secured its position as the title sponsor for the 2025 FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix, pledging at least P6 million to one of the World’s coveted athletics event—telecommunications giants came through with P1million as one of the sponsors.“We haven’t agreed or concluded any deal, but discussions with several entities are ongoing to come through as title sponsors or just partners and we remain hopeful that in the near future something positive will come up,” Kolantsho shared.With Botswana set to stage the World Relays Gaborone 2026 on the 2nd and 3rd of May at the National Stadium, organizers of the two events signed a Memorandum of Understanding to confirm that this years’ Golden Grand Prix will serve as a critical trial event for the World Relays. Some of the key logistical areas which will be put to test include, athlete transport, accommodation, and competition-day procedures. This partnership is expected to present an opportunity to train technical officials and ensure high-quality athlete participation for both events.“We have already expressed our interest to some international athletes, but we can’t conclude any deal for now before we can finalize our budget—these are professional athletes and World Class competitors, so we can’t reach any agreements until we ‘secure the bag’. We are racing against time but I am really positive that very soon we will bring some positive news,” he added. Sponsorship for sport events has proved to be a huge challenge for officials as the country is undergoing economic hardships, the World Athletics Local Organizing Committee (LOC) are yet to make announcements of key sponsors and or partners with only a few months left before the event in Gaborone.In the meantime, Golden Door Sports Agency have postponed one of their events, The Ghetto Classics, which was billed for Francistown, Obed ItanI Chilume stadium over the weekend due to bad weather forecast.“Everything was confirmed and ready to roll; we expected Tshepiso Masalela to challenge the 800m men’s world record but unfortunately we had to postpone the event to a later date—definitely after the Grand Prix and World Relays. We engaged with World Athletics before taking this decision, remember Ghetto Classics is a world athletics sanctioned event; we didn’t want to take a risk of staging the competition when the weather conditions are projected to be not so ideal for athletes to express themselves,” Kolantsho concluded.Ticket prices for the Botswana Golden Grand Prix, 26th of April, are already selling with the VVIP ticket going for P2,500, VIP P500, grand stand A & C going for P250 and the general stand tickets selling for P100.

Explore

More

Athletics

Athletics

Golden Grand Prix seeks P11m support