Onalenna Oabona Baloyi (born May 6, 1984 in Mahalapye) is a

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

middle distance runner, who specialized in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

Career

Baloyi's first major international event was at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

held in Helsinki, Finland, he ran in the

and he finished 7th in his heat from eight starters so he didn't advance to the next round. A year later he competed at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

held in Melbourne, Australia, he again entered the

and this time he finished third in his heat which was fast enough to qualify for the final, in the final he ran 10 seconds slower than his heat and finished eighth. Baloyi represented

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...

, where he competed for the men's 800 metres. He ran in the second heat against six other athletes, including Sudan's

Abubaker Kaki Abubaker Kaki Khamis (; born 21 June 1989) is a Sudanese runner who specializes in the 800 metres. He is a two-time World Indoor Champion over the distance and also won gold at the 2007 All-Africa Games. He represented Sudan at the 2008 and 2012 ...

, who emerged himself as a heavy favorite and a possible top medal contender in this event. He finished the race in fourth place by four tenths of a second (0.40) behind Russia's Dmitriy Bogdanov, with a time of 1:47.89. Baloyi, however, failed to advance into the semi-finals, as he placed thirty-eighth overall, and was ranked below two mandatory slots for the next round.

Doping

In 2010 Baloyi was given a two-year suspension by the IAAF for use of performance-enhancing substances, while training in Germany he went to a pharmacist for his usual energy drink but they had sold out and was given a replacement which contained banned substances. After five years in the wilderness Baloyi was invited by the

Botswana National Olympic Committee Botswana National Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee representing Botswana. It is also the body responsible for Botswana's representation at the Commonwealth Games. The Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) has facilitated ...

to sit on the panel of the anti-doping workshops and is still hoping to make a return to athletics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baloyi, Onalenna 1984 births Living people People from Central District (Botswana) Botswana male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Botswana Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Botswana Doping cases in athletics Botswana sportspeople in doping cases