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≡ WORLD ATHLETICS RELAYS ≡
No attendance figures were given, but the 25,000-seat National Stadium in Gaborone looked pretty full for both days of the World Athletics Relays in Botswana over the weekend and they saw their men’s 4×400 m scare the world record on the way to a happy victory in 2:54.57.
It’s the no. 3 performance of all time and within 0.28 of the U.S. World Championships winner in 1993 of 2:54.29:
United States: 2:54.29 (1993)
● 44.53: Andrew Valmon
● 43.59: Quincy Watts
● 43.23: Butch Reynolds
● 42.94: Michael Johnson
Botswana: 2:54.57 (2026)
● 44.26: Lee Eppie
● 43.50: Letsile Tebogo
● 43.62: Bayapo Ndori
● 43.09: Collen Kebinatshipi
(A U.S. team of Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, Tyree Washington and Johnson ran a world-record 2:54.20 at the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York, but the mark was wiped out in 2008 due to a doping violation against Pettigrew.)
After Botswana won the rainy World Championships 4×4 in Tokyo (JPN) in 2025, they set their sights on more than simply winning the World Relays at home. Said Eppie:
“We sat down yesterday and agreed that we would not make any more mistakes because we wanted to run the world record, we didn’t care about the gold. We polished the mistakes before we got into the race and everything was perfect from start to finish.
“It’s still early in the season and we know by the end of the season, we are going to run faster than this. It felt good (the crowd cheering) and I don’t think any country has experienced this before so it was a great moment for us.”
Paris 2024 200 m champion Tebogo, who ran only in the final, was thrilled, saying of winning before a home crowd, “This was the best moment in my career, I’m sure there is more to come but this has been my biggest highlight so far. It is not about the medals at the Olympics or World Championships but how the crowd has held us together.”
Ndori felt the same, adding, “for a long time, fans have always watched us on TV but now they have that opportunity to watch us on home soil. We still have a long way to go with the South African team, we still have more chances to dominate beyond this event. It is so amazing to receive support from the fans because they came from different parts of the country to cheer us on.”
The U.S. did not send a men’s or women’s 4×400 m team to the World Athletics Relays and only the mixed relays will be included in the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest (HUN) in September. So the American and Botswanan 4x4s likely won’t face each other until the World Athletics Championships in 2027.
The U.S. team that won the men’s 4×100 m relay in an impressive 37.43 was also impressed by the turnout and enthusiasm of the crowd in Gaborone. Said leadoff man Ronnie Baker:
“This is my second time in Africa and if there was a World Championship here, it would be really cool with the crowd and the atmosphere. I was in Tokyo last year and it was loud but here, I could barely here the calls, it was just crazy and the atmosphere is really amazing.
“The crowd had us hyped and I was ready to go and it was definitely motivating to here them out.”
Same for Max Thomas on the second leg, adding, “It’s so loud and the whole atmosphere is just exciting. I would definitely come back here and race at any given time because it’s so exciting.” Third leg Lance Lang, who ran a tremendous turn, concurred:
“The crowd was great, I was here for the Golden Grand Prix and it was loud then but nowhere near how it was today. To run in front of a big crowd because they were supporting us too and it’s not like they were hating on us, they were giving us love too. We respect that, it felt good to be here.”
Anchor Pjai Austin held off South Africa’s Akani Simbine to win by just 0.06 and offered some perspective:
“It feels great, we have a lot of love for South Africa, you know Simbine, I have a lot of respect for him, he is a great sprinter and it feels great to come out here and showcase our talent.
“Coming here, there was a lot of pressure on us, you know we are always trash talking each other, and they said we brought our ‘C’ team or whatever, but I feel like whenever we step on the track, we get the job done.
“The medals have a great look, I didn’t expect them to be like this, the gold plus the diamond, it feels great.”
The medals featured a half-carat diamond in the logo, offered by meet title sponsor Debswana, one of the world’s largest diamond producers. Although the meet finances have not been disclosed, as for the event on the track, it appears a medal can also be presented to the host country and its fans.
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