History will be made at this weekend’s Debswana World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26 as the global competition head to the African continent for the first time.
The capital city of Botswana, Gaborone, will stage the world’s best sprinters, headlined by Olympic champion and home-favourite Letsile Tebogo.
Participating nations will be hoping to secure their qualification for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
Twelve teams in each of the six events will secure automatic qualification for next year’s Championships.
On day one, the top two teams in each of the three heats and the next two quickest secure qualification and advance to the next day’s finals.
Four more spots will be up for grabs on day two, with the remaining teams returning for an additional round. The top two teams in each heat guaranteed qualification.
Day two also determines the prize money and World Championship seeding positions.
Botswana’s star athlete, Letsile Tebogo, is set to feature in the men’s 4×100m and mixed 4×100m events.
Speaking at the World Athletics pre-event press conference on Friday 1 May, the 2024 Olympic 200m Champion emphasised his short-sprint goals at these championships.
“The focus is the 4×100m and trying to introduce it into championships. The main goal is to make it to the final. It’s a new team with youngsters who I really believe in.”
South Africa’s Akani Simbine hopes to defend his 4×100m World Relay title, which he won with Team SA in 2025.
The 32-year-old ran a swift time of 9.98 seconds in a recent World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting (the Akani Simbine Classic).
Speaking about the proximity of the event, he said, “Botswana is next door, so this counts as home. It is good to be able to come here and defend my title. For us, it feels like we are running at home.”
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe used his opening statement at the pre-event presser to reinforce the significance of the World Relays being held in Africa for the first time.
“The very fact that these relays are coming to Africa for the first time means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to the continent”, Coe said.
“This is a continent that has, over the last 50 years, delivered in such passion and such talent extraordinary athletes into our sport.
“The history of athletics in this continent is in large part the history of world athletics in the last half century.
“This cements some really important assets. The first is the opportunity to use these championships as a way of demonstrating that Africa has come of age – it is now a continent where we genuinely want to share our championships; our big explosive moments.
“I also want this to be inspirational. I want it to be an inspiration for the young people sitting in that stadium that are, I hope, going to be following in the footsteps of the great athletes we have here.”
The World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26 will be streamed live on World Athletics+ in several territories.
The competition gets underway at 14:05 local time (GMT +2).
CONTRIBUTORS
Kelly is a London-based digital editor driven by a love for sport, with track and field at the heart of it. She breaks up her excessive screen time by running laps around the park or planning her next holiday!
