Athletes who perform well at international competitions are to be awarded cash prize bythe Lesotho National Olympic Committee ©LNOC

Athletes who perform well at international competitions are to be awarded cash prize by the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC).

Medallists from this year's African Beach Games in Hammamet were among the first set of athletes benefit from the new scheme.

Mokulubete Makatisi and Tebello Ramakongoana, winners of medals in Tunisia, received a cash prize of M45,000 (£1,950/$2,520/€2,250).

Makatisi bagged the silver medal after completing the women's beach marathon race in 33min 15sec.

Among men, Ramakongoana came second, covering the 10 kilometres in 28:58.

They also won a team silver, finishing Hammamet 2023 with three medals and securing the 15th position on the overall medals table that was topped by Algeria.

Lesotho won three medals at the Hammamet 2023 African Beach Games ©LNOC
Lesotho won three medals at the Hammamet 2023 African Beach Games ©LNOC

"Let's congratulate them for their endeavour preparation for upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games," a statement from LNOC read.

The African Beach Games was supposed to be a warm-up event for the Association of National Olympic Committees World Beach Games in Bali.

Originally scheduled to be held from August 5 to 12, it was cancelled on July 4.

The Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) cited budget issues for pulling out as hosts with the Government not releasing funds in Jakarta.