Athletics<\/a> Relays in Gaborone. In the final strait, Collen Kebinatshipi surged past South Africa\u2019s Zakithi Nene to win the men\u2019s 4x400m relay for Botswana. The home crowd, a sea of light blue, went wild.<\/p>\n\u201cIt means so many things to us,\u201d Letsile Tebogo, 22, the reigning 200m Olympic champion, who ran the second leg, told reporters afterwards. \u201cNot just the team \u2026 but for the people that always cheer for us behind the TV. Now they had that experience to see first-hand how much effort, how much pressure, how much we give for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview after the championships, the World Athletics president, Sebastian Coe, said: \u201cI put that atmosphere in the top three that I\u2019ve experienced live in athletics. The first was Cathy Freeman winning in Sydney. The second was Mo Farah hitting the front with a lap or so to go in the 10,000 in London, when the wall of noise was deafening \u2026 [This] comfortably sits in the top three for me.\u201d<\/p>\nBotswana\u2019s Bayapo Ndori, Letsile Tebogo, Lee Eppie and Collen Kebinatshipi celebrate after winning gold in the men\u2019s 4x400m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last year.<\/span> Photograph: Abbie Parr\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBotswana, a country larger by area than Spain with a population of just 2.5 million, has had a meteoric rise to the top of men\u2019s sprinting. Tebogo\u2019s Olympic gold in Paris in 2024 was the country\u2019s first, and only its fourth medal of any colour. The men\u2019s 4x400m relay team took silver, improving on bronze from three years earlier. Then, at the world championships in Tokyo last year, Kebinatshipi won the 400m while the relay team he anchored also took home gold.<\/p>\n
The athletes are superstars in Botswana, their faces plastered on billboards advertising everything from mobile phone contracts to milk. \u201cMy life has changed a lot,\u201d Kebinatshipi told a press conference before the relays.<\/p>\nCollen Kebinatshipi celebrates after winning gold in the men\u2019s 400m at the World Athletics Championships.<\/span> Photograph: Hannah Peters\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe 22-year-old, who started running at school, said he now allowed half an hour for photos with fans when he went out shopping. \u201cAt first I was a bit nervous, because I wasn\u2019t used to it \u2026 Nowadays I\u2019m used to it, so it\u2019s cool with me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Years-long investment in young athletes is one of the biggest reasons for the southern African country\u2019s recent success, sports officials said. The Botswana Athletics Association\u2019s chief executive, Mabua Mabua, said: \u201cI must thank the school sports programmes that we used to have, because basically all of the athletes that you are seeing, the youthful ones, are coming from that programme.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also highlighted the country\u2019s infrastructure. \u201cAll of the preparations for the team are done locally. Normally people say \u2018no, they should go to Europe, USA, for preparations\u2019. It\u2019s local coaches, a local environment.\u201d<\/p>\nResego Kelly Makwala, 14, the daughter of the former Botswana sprint star Isaac Makwala, is emerging as a promising young athlete.<\/span> Photograph: Kefilwe Monosi\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Botswana National Sports Commission runs programmes for 15 sports to spot and nurture talent. Re Ba Bona Ha<\/em>, meaning \u201cWe See Them Here\u201d in Setswana, is a coaching initiative for children aged five to 13 that was launched for football in 2002, with athletics added in 2008. Up to 300 children attend athletics sessions every year, said Frederick Kebadiretse, the BNSC\u2019s sports development manager.<\/p>\nThen there are twice-yearly holiday camps to identify older students for eight centres of sports excellence, which were founded in 2011. The centres run weekday afternoon and weekend training sessions, with 30 to 40 students picked for athletics annually.<\/p>\n
Sports officials warned that without the school sports programme, which was suspended in 2019 due to a dispute between the government and teachers, Botswana\u2019s recent athletics success was at risk. \u201cThe pipeline is not there,\u201d said Martin Mokgwathi, who chaired the world relays organising committee. \u201c[Performance] will dip unless something is done very, very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\nMartin Mokgwathi at the Botswana national stadium, where this year\u2019s world relays competition was held.<\/span> Photograph: Kefilwe Monosi\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBotswana\u2019s female athletes have not yet matched the men\u2019s results. Oratile Nowe, the seventh fastest woman this year over 800m, is the current highest performer.<\/p>\n
The officials admitted more needed to be done to support women and girls. \u201cWe need to widen the pipeline so we can get more and more young women to join,\u201d Mokgwathi said. \u201cThe other thing, of course, is to encourage more and more women to become coaches and technical officials \u2026 And we need to protect young women coming into the sport, so that they stay.\u201d<\/p>\nOratile Nowe celebrates after winning the women\u2019s 800m at the Botswana golden grand prix last month.<\/span> Photograph: Monirul Bhuiyan\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIsaac Makwala is trying to fill the pipelines. Makwala, whom numerous young athletes cite as an inspiration, was the first man to run 400m in under 44 seconds and 200m in under 20 seconds in the same day<\/a>. The son of farmers from a village in northern Botswana, he started running at school, although he didn\u2019t compete until he was 21.<\/p>\nAfter retiring in 2024, Makwala founded the Isaac Makwala Athletics Academy, putting about 50 12- to 16-year-olds through sprinting drills five afternoons a week. \u201cI have a daughter here, she drives me to be a coach,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to see how well she will run after. Did she take her talent from me?\u201d<\/p>\nTuduetso Gaboutloeloe cheers for her daughter Leloba, 13, during a training session at the Isaac Makwala Athletics Academy in Gaborone.<\/span> Photograph: Kefilwe Monosi\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nEarlier this year his daughter, Resego Kelly Makwala, became Botswana\u2019s under-18 girls champion in 400m, aged just 14. \u201cI do really like it,\u201d she said. \u201cThe times. When I make good times, PBs [personal bests].\u201d<\/p>\n
Makwala\u2019s centre relies on motivated parents who can afford the 100 pula (\u00a35.50) registration and 500 pula monthly fees. Tuduetso Gaboutloeloe, a tax collector, is one. \u201cI want to be honest with you, the way the economy is bad, I want to see her going places, maybe getting a scholarship so she can progress very well,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause right now, it\u2019s a struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her 13-year-old daughter, Leloba, who runs 800m and wants to try 400m too, dreams of Olympic success. \u201cI do imagine myself winning medals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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