Although Botswana remains medal-less in Paris (as of Wednesday night, Letsile Tebogo could easily have changed that in the 200m by Thursday), it’s not all doom and gloom in the French capital.
The trio of: Tebogo, Busang Collen Kebinatshipi and Bayapo Ndori have already booked their place at next year’s World Championships, scheduled for Tokyo, Japan from 13 – 25 September.
Qualification for the 2025 event opened on 1 August, with all three blitzing the required time.
First to secure his spot in the land of the rising sun was Kebinatshipi, who clocked a personal best of 44.45 seconds in Sunday’s 400m heat, to progress to the semis and the World Champs (the required time was 44.85s).
The 20-year-old was even faster on Tuesday, running 44.43s to finish third, which meant he narrowly missed out on a place in the final.
It will be the Jwaneng Athletics Club member’s second appearance at the World Championships, following his debut in Hungary last year.
Kebinatshipi was also part of the men’s relay team that won 400m gold at the World Relays in Bahamas back in May.
Ndori was part of that team too, as he was in Tokyo 2020, when the men’s 4x400m squad famously won Olympic bronze.
The two men will be hoping to continue their fine form in the relays on Friday, when BW begin their hunt for a second successive medal in that particular race.
Spookily, the 25-year-old emulated Kebainatshipi’s time of 44.43s to finish fourth in his semi, failing just short of qualification to the final.
Letsile, meanwhile, breezed into the World Champs in both the 100 and 200m.
The 21-year-old ‘schoolboy’ will be taking part in the elite event for a third time, having first appeared at Eugene, USA in 2022 and then again in Budapest, where he left with silver (100m) and bronze (200m) medals.
Considering his blistering form in the semis on Wednesday night, there’s every chance the Kanye Kid will be heading to Japan as the defending Olympic 200m champion!
In a brief interview with Voice Sport, Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) mouthpiece, Oabona Theetso expressed delight at the early qualifications.
“We are happy that athletes have managed to qualify for the World Championship with almost 12 months to spare. This means they will have ample time to prepare and engage in other competitions with less pressure. For someone who has not qualified yet, they will have to chase qualification first in the next months,” he said.
Qualification for the World Championships is open until 24 August 2025.
