Letsile Tebogo is a legend in Botswana; there is no debating that. The man brought glory to the country when he claimed the Olympic gold medal in the 200m at the 2024 Paris Olympics, clocking 19.46 seconds, beating Kenny Bednarek (19.62s) and Noah Lyles (19.70). His legacy is so big in that country that the Bank of Botswana issued a banknote featuring him. But there is one thing he did not do: win a World Championship. Well, a 21-year-old Botswana athlete did this today.

Busang Collen Kebinatshipi clocked a time of 43.53 seconds to outrun the big names like Jereem Richards (43.72) to win the gold in the 400m at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. Richards did set a national record, but this time, the glory was all Botsawna’s as the 21-year-old brought the country its first-ever World Athletics Championships gold in the men’s category. And only if the part was over here for them.

There are two medals coming to Botswana. Bayapo Ndori picked up the bronze, recording a season best of 44.20. The USA’s hope, Jacory Patterson, was seventh to cross the finish line in 44.70 seconds. Kebinatshi ‘s time is also the fastest time of the season in men’s 400m; the sprinter from Trinidad and Tobago is the second-fastest 400m runner of the season after his performance today.

The two of them surged ahead of Zakithi Nene’s 43.76 from the Kip Keino Classic and Patterson’s 43.85. Interestingly, if you look at how Kebinatshipi’s season had been, you might never have guessed that he would be winning the World Championship. He started his season with a win in 44.90s at the Twin Towers Classic Track & Field Meet in Francistown, Botswana, in March. Then his second win of the season came in the semifinals of the World Athletics Championships, clocking 43.61, which was the fastest time of the semifinals.

He had lost to Jereem Richards in the Kingston Slam in April, where he was sixth in 21.08 while Richards was second in 20.81. In the Diamond League final, he was seventh in 45.40 seconds while Jacory Patterson won in 43.85 seconds. But despite all of that, he did what Letsile Tebogo could never do in his entire track and field career to this date, and as Tebogo tries it in 2025, trouble awaits.

Letsile Tebogo faces big challenges to his World Championships dreams

Tebogo first appeared in the World Championships in 2022, and that too in the hundred meters. He was eliminated in the semifinals as he clocked 10.17s, finishing seventh in heat 3. Oblique Seville won that race in 9.90s. We saw him again at the 2023 World Championships, this time in both 100 and 200 meters. The shorter distance discipline saw him claim the silver in 9.88s behind Noah Lyles (9.83s). In the 200m, he was third in 19.81s while Erriyon Knighton claimed silver in 19.75s and Lyles took the gold in 19.52s. It was good but not gold.

Now, in the 2025 World Championships, he has gone without a medal in the 100m after his DQ due to a false start, and the 200m poses a big challenge. When the 200m World Champion was making his season debut in the Monaco DL, many best were of Tebogo. But Lyles won the race in 19.88s, and it was the Botswana sprinter behind him in 19.97. Then there was the Diamond League final, where he was leading in the entire race, but then Lyles accelerated in the final straight and snatched the victory by two hundredths of a second, clocking 19.74.

Now, Lyles has gotten more dangerous after he clocked 19.51s in the semifinals, the fastest time of the entire season, faster than Letsile Tebogo’s season best of 19.76 that came in a win at Prefontaine Classic. On top of that, he finished second in his semifinal heat, clocking 19.95s while Jamaica’s Bryan Levell took the win in 19.78. He is also being hyped for a podium finish, and if he already outran Tebogo in the semifinals, what are the chances that Botswana can win another gold in the men’s 200m final at the World Athletics Championships?