An era of domination has arrived
Mqondisi Dube | Friday September 26, 2025 08:36
Shortly after 9:05 pm on Monday, August 29, 2011, Botswana recorded one of her most consequential sporting moments. It was in South Korea’s fourth-largest metropolitan city of Daegu that Amantle Montsho, almost under the radar, delivered Botswana’s first world athletics title.
Montsho was crowned world champion after edging out the favourite, Allyson Felix of America, a moment that has triggered a ripple effect, still felt to date. Montsho’s time of 49.56 seconds produced a national record, but the significant statistic that stood out is that in under a minute, the seconds dramatically altered Botswana’s athletics landscape.
At the time, the World Championships did not carry much gravitas across Botswana’s vast plains. Few cared about athletics, let alone the World Championships. The 2011 competition was held against the backdrop of the Zebras’ euphoria, with the team seemingly the nation’s only begotten son, relegating other sports codes to the periphery.
Before the World Championships, in March 2011, the Zebras had made history after qualifying for their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations finals following a 1-0 victory over Chad away in Ndjamena, a city with visible war scars.
Whilst significant, Montsho’s victory was not as dominant as it was regarded as a flash in the pan at a time when all that mattered was the Zebras.
The Daegu moment alerted the athletics world to the threat that Botswana carried on the international front. But sceptics viewed it as a once in a blue moon achievement, never to be repeated. These views were not confined to pessimists outside the borders, but some within Botswana never saw the 49.56 seconds moment as a turning tide.
In 2011, Montsho was the star of a cast that had struggled to offer her sufficient support in sharing the medal load. But the following year, Montsho moved slightly back into the shadows when an 18-year-old, Nijel Amos, burst from Marobela into the global limelight at the 2012 London Olympics. Montsho arrived in London amongst the favourites for the 400m gold in a competition where Botswana sent a small delegation of four athletes.
Montsho, who was the flag bearer, had Isaac Makwala (400m), Amos (800m) and Oteng Oteng (boxing) in tow. Makwala did not progress beyond the initial stages, whilst Oteng failed to punch above his weight as he lost his first match. Montsho was regarded as the only genuine medal hopeful, following the elimination of Makwala and Oteng. But then the nation watched in agony as their only hope struggled to dip at the finish line, as Montsho finished fourth in a race won by Sanya Richards-Ross.
There was collective deflation as it dawned that Botswana’s hunt for an elusive medal at the Olympics would continue. But against odds, up stepped Amos to rescue a disastrous outing. Amos won a silver in one of the fastest 800m races ever seen in the universe. In consecutive years, Botswana had scored significant victories on the track, despite the country’s small population compared to powerhouses like the United States and Jamaica.
From then, there was considerable respect accorded to Botswana athletes as the likes of Makwala began to tick on the track. Although there was a dry medal spell at the World Championships and the Olympics, there were still moments that proved Botswana was now a force to be reckoned with.
For instance, at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Botswana returned its best-ever haul, with five medals, including outstanding performances from both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams and Makwala, as they all delivered gold medals.
The only notable disappointment was Amos’ failure to kick on after his stunning debut at the 2012 Olympics. He failed to add to his silver and is looking like he will exit the stage without a World Championship medal, a disappointing return considering his early promise.
Whilst it looked like the talent conveyor belt was slowing down, the mercurial Letsile Tebogo entered the scene to further add gloss to Botswana’s status as a rising athletics force.
There were concerns that the looming exits of veterans Montsho and Makwala could have a screeching-halt effect, but instead, new heroes were born.
Botswana is now spoilt for choice if one considers ‘lost’ talent in Onkabetse Nkobolo, Karabo Sibanda, and Baboloki Thebe, who were assured starters in the 400m.
But their absence has gone unnoticed thanks to a conveyor belt that has continuously rolled out prodigious talent, with the grand entry of the likes of Tebogo, Collen Kebinatshipi, Bayapo Ndori, Leungo Scotch, Lee Bhekimpilo Eppie, Zibani Ngozi, Victor Ntweng, Kemorena Tisang, Tshepiso Masalela, and Kethobogile Haingura.
On the women’s side, there have been Lydia Jele, Tsaone Sebele, Galefe Moroko, Christine Botlogetswe, Leungo Matlhaku, and Oratile Nowe. However, the balance of success has been heavily skewed towards the male athletes, who have won all but one of Botswana’s medals at the World Championships and Olympics.
Whilst Botswana’s arrival on the biggest stage received initial affirmation in Daegu and further validation at the London Olympics a year later, it was at the 2020 Olympics and beyond that, consistency was truly struck. Since then, it has been a positive trajectory, with Botswana on the podium in subsequent Olympics and World Champions, a first for the country.
Before 2011, Botswana athletes had toiled to even make the finals, with Glody Dube breaking the duck when he reached the finals of the 800m at the 2000 Sidney Olympic Games. But now, nothing less than a medal is considered a failure for a nation that is fast getting accustomed to winning. ‘Nearly’ is now never enough, which is the reason why Tebogo’s fourth-place finish in the 200m was deemed as a failure, indicative of the lofty standards that the southern African country has reached.
Between the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent World Championships, Botswana has been the undoubted rising star.
In Tokyo, the 4x400m team won a bronze medal, whilst at the World Championships in Budapest, Botswana made history after winning two medals for the first time. Tebogo won a silver medal in the 100m and a bronze in the 200m. Before that, Tebogo had obliterated the world 100m record at the junior World Championships in Cali, Colombia.
At last year’s Paris Olympics, Botswana’s stock significantly rose when Tebogo became the first African male athlete to win a gold medal in the 200m.
The 4x400m team won a silver medal, making it Botswana’s best haul at the Olympics. At this year’s World Championships, Kebinatshipi became only the second African male athlete to win gold in the 400m, whilst the 4x400m team made history as the first from the continent to emerge with gold in the race.
For the first time, Botswana won three medals at the World Championships, as the country’s period of dominance gains considerable traction, with more to come from juniors like Justice Oratile, who is already dominating the 400m.
Per capita, Botswana is regarded as one of the world’s leading athletics nations, and its fifth-place finish at the recent World Championships provides undisputed evidence. The finish meant Botswana was placed second in Africa, only behind Kenya, but ahead of talented and more populous nations like South Africa, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.