World 400m star speaks ahead of Diamond League opener
Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 23.05.26. | 13:00
In his first race since anchoring Botswana to 4x400m victory at the World Relays on home soil in Gaborone, Kebinatshipi heads the men’s 400m field in Xiamen
“People are expecting a lot from me,” admits Collen Kebinatshipi. “But I have my own plan.”
The 22-year-old is looking ahead to Saturday’s Xiamen Diamond League (DL), where he’ll face a world-class field in the men’s 400m, the event the Motswana conquered in such spectacular fashion last year, winning World Championship gold in Tokyo in a national record of 43.53.
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If that win heightened the expectation that he now carries, it increased again last month when Kebinatshipi blasted to the national 100m title in 9.89 seconds.
The race in Xiamen is his first 400m of the DL season, but he knows it’s likely too early to produce real fireworks.
“I came here to enjoy myself and see how the fitness level is,” he says. “Then we can go back to training and do more blocks.”
Kebinatshipi and his coach, Chilume ‘Chippa’ Ntshwarang, put a key focus on his speed development early in the season, which was clear at the national championships as he twice clocked 9.89 for 100m in the same day – performances that caught the eyes of the sprinting world.
“It wasn’t really a surprise to me,” says Kebinatshipi. “Early season we said, ‘Let’s put some speed in.’ My training was focused on speed, we did training in the blocks and we predicted it well."
400m World Champ 🇧🇼Collen Kebinatshipi entered in his first race since anchoring Botswana to World Relays 4x400m gold with a 43.09 split. pic.twitter.com/Ffm79jzn7g
— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) May 19, 2026
“Coach said I would run 10.0 or 9.9. it shows the speed is there. Now we can go back to the 400 and keep it going. It was for early season, but now we switched everything, I’m preparing for 400 again so we have to balance everything – endurance and speed," he added.
In his first race since anchoring Botswana to 4x400m victory at the World Relays on home soil in Gaborone, Kebinatshipi heads the men’s 400m field in Xiamen.
The world champion lines up against teammate and fellow world 4x400m champion Bayapo Ndori, world indoor champion Christopher Morales Williams of Canada, South Africa’s Zakithi Nene and Olympic bronze medalist Muzala Samukonga.
The Botswana star is chasing his first DL win on the circuit.
