Two qualify for World Championships
Two more athletes, Leungo Scotch and Collen Kebinatshipi, have booked their places at the 19th edition of the World Athletics Championships to be held in Hungary in August.
It was a fruitful weekend for local athletics when the country hosted the FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix and home grown talent shone.
The 400m runners, Scotch and Kebinatshipi were excellent on the track in two separate competitions to qualify for the 2023 World Athletics Championships that will be held August 19-27 in Budapest.
For the very first time, Scotch clocked a sub 45s in the one-lap race. Scotch finished third with a time of 44.92 to beat his Personal Best (PB) time and secure a ticket to Budapest in the spring. Scotch finished behind Zambian, Samukonga Muzala and Kirani James of Granada who finished first and second respectively. After the race, a visibly overwhelmed, Scotch struggled for words as he said he had finally reached his target to run a sub 45s in the 400m.
“This is something I have long been preparing for. This is the time that I have long looked to make so I would say it is very exciting to run a sub 45s and also qualify for the World Championships.
I am very happy,” Scotch said. Just north of Botswana in Ndola, Zambia, junior athlete Kebinatshipi clocked a slightly better time than Scotch as he clocked 44.91s to win the men’s 400m at the 2023 Africa Junior Championship.
It was the first time Kebinatshipi ran a sub 45s as he beat his PB to clinch gold at the championship. The youngster will make his debut at the World Championships as he joins Scotch on the trip to Budapest.
In other notable performances over the last weekend, star boy, Letsile Tebogo beat his PB down to 19.87s in the 200m in the Botswana Golden Grand Prix.
Oratile Nowe broke the 800m women’s national record with a time of 2:01:71 while Laone Ditshetelo clocked a PB of 45.73. Zibane Ngozi also improved the season’s best to 45.73 at the event held at the National Stadium.
Following her FISU Games qualification, Boitshepo Moloi continued her good form as she finished seventh with a PB of 11.79 in the 100m.