Botswana hosts, and wins, at Africa’s first World Relays
The home team won the men’s 4x400m in a championship record and qualified for the Worlds in the 4x100m for the first time.
Key points
- Gaborone hosted the World Athletics Relays on 2–3 May 2026, the first time the event was held in Africa.
- Botswana, with Letsile Tebogo and Collen Kebinatshipi, won the men’s 4x400m in a championship record of 2:54.47.
- Botswana’s men’s 4x100m team set a national record of 37.96 and qualified for the World Championships in the event for the first time.
Botswana hosted the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone on 2 and 3 May 2026, the first time the event had been held in Africa. The home team gave its fans plenty to celebrate.
Gold in the 4x400m
Botswana won the men's 4x400m in a championship record of 2:54.47. The team included Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo and world 400m champion Collen Kebinatshipi, who later ran a Diamond League record 43.40 in Brussels.
History in the 4x100m
In the men's 4x100m, Botswana set a national record of 37.96 in the heats. Tebogo then anchored the team to second place in their final-round race, securing Botswana's first-ever qualification for the World Championships in the event.
"I knew I couldn't disappoint," Tebogo said afterwards.
Why it matters
Botswana has become one of the world's leading sprint nations. Hosting a global event at the national stadium, and winning on home soil, showed what African countries can do as hosts, a year before Nairobi was chosen for the 2029 World Championships.
Sources
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