Botswana bring house down in epic final day of World Relays

Botswana brought the curtain down on the Debswana World Athletics Relays in Gaborone in unforgettable fashion on Sunday, 3 May, winning the men’s 4x400m in a competition record of 2:54.47, as the National Stadium erupted for the host nation.

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Running in the final event of the weekend, the world champions delivered the performance the home crowd had come to see, as they set the national record, the fastest ever recorded at the World Relays, but also the third-fastest performance in history.

By the time the baton reached the closing stages, the noise inside the stadium had become almost overwhelming.

Botswana had carried the expectation of a nation into the last race of the programme, and they responded with a performance of authority, precision and nerve to seal one of the defining moments in World Relays history.

Lee Eppie gave the hosts an early lead with a 44.26 leg, before handing over to Letsile Tebogo.

The Olympic 200m champion strode out along the back straight but, despite running a 43.50 split, was caught by Lythe Pillay towards the end of the second leg, after the South African managed a sensational 42.66 split.

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Reece Holder moved Australia into contention too with a 43.12 effort on the second leg, and it soon became clear that the host nation would nothave it all their own way.

Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori chased South African teenager Leendert Koekemoer on the third leg, while Australia’s Thomas Reynolds edged closer to the lead pair. There was little to separate the three leading teams as they embarked on the final leg.

Fortunately for Botswana, they still had world champion Collen Kebinatshipi to call upon.

He moved level with South Africa’s Zakithi Nene and Australia’s Aidan Murphy with 200 metres to go, and they ran together for the next 100 metres, before Kebinatshipi broke free from his challengers on the home straight.

Roared on by the vocal home crowd, he charged through the line in 2:54.47, smashing the championship record by almost three seconds.

South Africa placed second in 2:55.07 and Australia were third in 2:55.20, the fifth and sixth fastest performances in history.

Elsewhere in the mixed, 4x100m event, Jamaica set a new world record, after racing to victory in a dominant 39.62 seconds.

The Jamaican quartet of Ackeem Blake, Tina Clayton, Kadrian Goldson and Tia Clayton, had become the first team to dip under 40 seconds on Saturday, when clocking an initial world best of 39.99 in the heats.