The Botswana Athletes Commission has launched a campaign to support Amantle Montsho ©Getty Images

The Botswana Athletes Commission has launched the "Support Amantle Montsho Campaign" in a bid to help the former 400 metres world champion prepare for upcoming competitions following her return from a two-year drugs ban.

The campaign will raise funds to help Montsho find training facilities and aid her preparations for this year's International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in London.

Montsho served a two-year suspension after being found guilty of taking a banned substance during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. 

The 33-year-old, the 2011 world champion and 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, tested positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine after finishing fourth at Glasgow 2014. 

Having decided not to appeal the ban due to costs of BP200,000 (£14,500/$19,000/€17,300), Montsho served the ban until July of last year and was forced to miss the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.  

She has already qualified for this year’s IAAF World Championships, which will be between August 4 and 13 at London's Olympic Stadium.

"A top three finish will be an achievement for me looking at my level of fitness, but I will still be happy to reach the event’s final," Montsho told The Voice, a newspaper in Botswana.

"It is not going to be easy but I have to work hard to make this a reality.

"After getting a medal I retire.

"I am very grateful for the support I get from Botswana and athletics family."

Amantle Montsho narrowly failed to retain her World Championships title at Moscow in 2013 ©Getty Images
Amantle Montsho narrowly failed to retain her World Championships title at Moscow in 2013 ©Getty Images

The ban was a huge stain on the career of Montsho, whose victory in Daegu in 2011 made her the first athlete from Botswana ever to win a world or Olympic title.

After finishing fourth in the Olympics at London 2012, she narrowly failed to retain her world title at Moscow in 2013 when she led for most of the race only to be pipped on the line by Britain's Christine Ohuruogu. 

Montsho also won consecutive gold medals in 2007 and 2011 at the All-Africa Games and claimed victory at the African Championships in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

Botswana National Olympic Committee vice-president Botsang Tshenyego was behind the idea and claimed it was in honour of an athlete who put Botswana on the athletics map.

"We want her to continue in sports under a different role either being coach, sports ambassador or sports administrator,"he said, according to The Voice.

"She will give inspiration to young athletes, especially girls.

"We cannot lose an athlete of such calibre – she is a diamond.

"The initiative is meant to raise funds for competitions and the transition, which is training her in areas of her choice."