The Paris Olympics was the nation's thirteenth appearance in Olympic competition. They have participated in every Summer Olympic Games since the 1972 Summer Olympics except the 1976 Montreal Games.[1][2] The 2024 Summer Olympics were held from 26 July to 11 August 2024.[3] Before the Games each athlete was given 50,000 maloti as a reward for their participation.[4][5]
Lesotho was represented by one male and one female athlete in athletics: Ramakongoana and Makatisi in the men's and women's marathons, respectively.[8] Ramakongoana qualified via running a time of 2:09:57 in the marathon at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. This was enough to place him in the qualification standard of the top five.[9] On 10 August 2024,[10] he ran a 2:07:58 Olympic marathon, which beat the Basotho national record and placed him 7th.[11][12] He was in 60th place at the 5km (3.1mi) mark and 70th at 10km (6.2mi). He then sped up and was in third place by 15km (9.3mi). At halfway (21km, 13mi), he was in 14th. This was the all-time best performance of any Olympian from the nation. He was competing with an injured hamstring.[13]
Makatisi received a universality selection to participate at the 2024 Summer Olympics, as she was one of three representatives of her country.[14] Her selection sparked a dispute as the Lesotho National Olympic Committee approved her as the selection, but the Federation of Athletics Lesotho (FAL) believed Neheng Khatala was more qualified and abruptly sent Makatisi a letter stating that her Olympic appearance had been canceled.[14][15] However, ultimately, Makatisi was selected to compete, being approved by World Athletics (WA).[14][15][16] At the Olympics, she placed 31st in the women's marathon with a time of 2:30:20.[17][12] Her placement improved from 57th to 54th between the 5km (3.1mi) and 15km (9.3mi) kilometer marks. She had pulled ahead to 38th by the halfway point. At the 40km (25mi) mark, she was in 27th place.[13]
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