More to come from Kebinatshipi – Coach
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday April 13, 2026 06:00
The new 100m national champion, Kebinatshipi, twice registered the WL in the semi-final and the final. He also powered the Jwaneng 4x100m men’s relay team to the national title. His coach, Chilume ‘Chippa’ Ntshwarang, said Kebinatshipi’s strength is speed, and when he started working with him, the first thing he showed was that he did not have speed endurance.
He then converted him to 400m, and he was able to run the race, but without measuring his speed. “Despite that, I realised that he had the potential to run a fast time. Our preparations did not change to focus on the National Championships for 100m; we used the race to prepare for the upcoming races,” he said.
“We did not want to run 400m because the calendar is still packed, including the World Athletics Relays Gaborone 2026. We also have Diamond League races, Continental Tours events, and the World Athletics Ultimate Challenge in September. We had to pick a race that will put him in good intensity to run a decent 400m relay leg.” Ntshwarang added that the Ultimate Challenge is going to be a tough event because it features Olympic and World champions and requires a lot of preparation.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is a new, biennial, three-day track-and-field event designed as a high-stakes, fast-paced season finale. The inaugural event will take place in Budapest, Hungary, from September 11 to 13, 2026, featuring only the top-ranked athletes. Ntshwarang said the 9.89s did not come as a surprise to him because he sees the athlete all the time during training. “But he surprised me during the heat. He was too fast. I thought the guy will run 9.95s, somewhere there. It shows that we should now control the number of races because September is too far (away). “We should find a way on how best we can handle him and to the best of his ability,” he said. Ntshwarang stated that he was impressed by Kebinatshipi’s 100m performance, adding that it is an indication that they are ahead of schedule, and he should find a way to control the peak.
The coach suggested maybe he should cut some of the training programmes, reserve him a bit, and maybe that will work. He said they want him to perform at Diamond League meets, the Commonwealth Games and also avoid running every race out there.
He said this was the reason Kebinatshipi, Letsile Tebogo, and Bayapo Ndori did not run the Lefika International Relays because of packed calendars. Meanwhile, rising sprint star, Justice Oratile of Lefika Athletics Club, survived a false start scare during the 200m final, and managed to finish in position two with a time of 20.22s behind Prince Selepe of Jwaneng Athletics Club, who registered 20.08s.
Oratile said his legs were raring to go, hence the false start.
Under-20 girls' 100m and 200m national champion, Same Mohutsiwa, and the boys' 200m national champion, Jack Newman, qualified for the 2026 World Athletics Under-20 Championships, which will be held in Eugene, Oregon, USA, from August 5 to 9, 2026.