Team Kenya yesterday made history by winning big and delivering a historic performance at the 2026 Lefika International Relays in Gaborone, Botswana, highlighted by several podium finishes and new national records.
The Lefika Relays serve as served as a critical dry run and qualification opportunity for the upcoming 2026 World Athletics Relays. Kenyans overall continued displaying their prowess in the various races.
In the mixed 4x400m Relay : Kenya’s quartet of Allan Kipyego, Mercy Chebet, Kevin Kipkorir, and anchor Mercy Oketch started off the victory haul by securring the country’s first gold medal of the meet with a dominant time of 3:14.04.
Following this victory, the men’s 4x400m Relay also secured their gold with the team comprising of George Mutinda, Danson Kibet, Erastus Mbaluka, and Alan Kipyego.
The mixed 4x100m Relay won silver and set a new national record: In the historic debut for the event, the team led by Ferdinand Omanyala and anchored by Mercy Oketch set a new National Record of 41.70 seconds. Nigeria took the Gold with a time of 41.44.
Omanyala’s sonic speed came to the rescue of the men’s 4x100m Relay: Ferdinand Omanyala propelled the team to a Silver coming from third to secure a second place with a final time of 39.12 seconds, finishing behind Nigeria (38.98) and ahead of Botswana (39.31).
This exceptional performance has seen Kenya’s performance in the mixed 4x100m relay as particularly strategic, in that it has successfully dislodged Spain to move into 13th position globally in the “Road to Botswana” rankings. What this means is that Kenya has now effectively secured qualification spots for all five relay disciplines for the 2026 World Athletics Relays.
Confusion marred the women’s 4x400m relay as reports indicated that all podium-finishing countries, including Kenya, faced potential issues regarding lane infringement rules.