10 things you need to know about the Debswana World Athletics Relays in Gaborone
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Reading Time: 3min | Fri. 01.05.26. | 20:14
To commemorate this history-making event, the medals to be won this weekend have been embedded with Botswana's locally polished natural diamonds
Botswana, a Southern Africa nation with a population of about 2.6 million people, on Saturday, 2 and Sunday, 3 May, will be thrust into the global limelight.
The country will bot be on the limelight for its diamonds, but the showcasing of talent to the rest of the world as the capital Gaborone comes alive for the Debswana World Athletics Relays Championships.
It’s all about the roar from the crowd, the pounding of spikes on the blue track, the split seconds that define greatness.
It is all about gold, silver, bronze, and, yes, diamonds!
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Here are 10 things you need to know about the Debswana World Athletics Relays
1.It will be the first time in the history for this global event to be hosted in Africa.
It serves as the main qualification event for the relays at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in September and next year’s World Athletics Championships in Beijing;
2.The host nation is a top contender, led by Olympic medalist Letsile Tebogo.
Other key home athletes include Collen Kebinatshipi (reigning world 400m champion), Same Mhutsiwa (women's 4x100m) and Galefele Moroko (women's 4x400m);
3. Botswana’s men's 4x400m team is one to watch out for.
The team made history at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, winning gold in 2:57.76 to become the first African nation to win the event.
The usual suspects, including the USA, South Africa, Brazil, and Jamaica, are ones to look out for.
4.The World Athletics Relays in Gaborone features six events: Men’s and Women’s 4x100m, Men’s and Women's 4x400m, as well as the 4x100m and 4x400m Mixed Relays;
5.To commemorate this history-making event, the medals to be won this weekend have been embedded with Botswana's locally polished natural diamonds courtesy of the Okavango Diamond Company;
6. Coming in the year of Botswana's Diamond Jubilee Independence Celebrations, the diamonds embedded in the medals symbolize the country's 60 years of independence, resilience, and excellence;
7. The title sponsor of this event, Debswana, is a joint venture between De Beers mining company and the Botswana government. This sponsorship shows how the country is reinvesting in sports and global exposure;
8. The championship medals were designed by a local, Thabang Maphanyane.
They feature the Mohembo Bridge (embodying connectivity) abstract elephant tusks and zebra stripes (Botswana's national animal), a reflection of the country's rich cultural heritage and landscape. Overall, the medal design stands for unity of the people of Botswana;
9. Through this global event, Botswana aims to boost tourism, inspire young athletes, and position herself as a future sports-hosting destination. Botswana is not just hosting, it is reintroducing itself to the world through sport;
10. A total of 39 countries (by April 30) had entered the World Relays Gaborone 26 championships, namely Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, China, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Uganda, Ukraine, USA and Zimbabwe.