Athletics-Kebinatshipi takes 400 gold on great night for Botswana

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By Mitch Phillips

TOKYO (Reuters) – Botswana’s 21-year-old Busang Collen Kebinatshipi won the world 400 metres gold on Thursday, belying his age to run a perfectly-judged 43.53-second lap, with compatriot Bayapo Ndori taking bronze on a memorable night for the African nation.

Kebinatshipi, who raised eyebrows with a season-leading 43.61 in the semi-finals, came off the final bend strongly, driving through the rain for a dominant victory.

Jareem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago, a 2017 world bronze medallist over 200 metres, took silver in a national record 43.72 seconds, with Ndori third in 44.20.

With Olympic champion Quincy Hall missing through injury and Paris silver and bronze medallists Matthew Hudson-Smith and Muzala Samukonga failing to get past the semis in Tokyo, the final looked wide open.

South Africa’s Zakithi Nene, the fastest in the field coming into Tokyo, set off at a pace that looked, and proved, to be unsustainable, bordering on crazy.

KEPINATSHIPI GETS TACTICS SPOT ON

Kebinatshipi was two lanes inside him but showed impressive maturity to not get drawn in and continued to race his own way.

As Nene faded, finishing fifth in 44.55, Kebinatshipi took up the running and was clear coming into the home straight. He tied up slightly, as Richards bore down on him, but had enough to get home.

“Getting a gold medal is the dream come true for us, said Kebinatshipi. “I didn’t expect it to come so early for me at this age, but you know, it shows that I’m able to do even more than this in coming years.”

It should be some celebration in the Trinidadian camp, or in one room at least, as Richards’ silver came an hour after roommate Keshorn Walcott won the javelin.

“I saw him get the medal and he put so much pressure on me,” he said. “I was like, ‘well, okay, if he does it, I need to back it up’.

“I’ve been struggling for this since 2017. To improve the national record in the world championships final was one of my dreams.

“We both won medals – gold and silver. When we spoke about this before the competition it looked like a joke. Now it’s a reality. “It just goes to show what I’m capable of in this event.”

Ndori looked well out of it with 40 metres to go but surged through to snatch bronze.

“We are very surprised,” he said of the double for his country, who had a third man in the final – last-placed Lee Bhekempilo Eppie. “We never thought this would happen.”

The three Botswanans could be joined by Olympic 200 metres champion Letsile Tebogo – who goes in the Tokyo final on Friday – to make a formidable 4x400m relay team.

(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Timothy Heritage and Ed Osmond)