World Under-20 Championships team sets new records
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday August 11, 2026 10:11
The team has returned home without a medal although Botswana reached the finals in the men’s 4x400m relay team and the men’s 100m through Wazha Matakule. The national Under-20 team coach, Kemiso 'Keita' Manyapedza, told Sport Monitor that the team did well and was impressed with the performance with the 4x400m team running a Season’s Best.
He said on paper, Botswana did not have a strong team when compared to other countries like Germany, South Africa or the United States but still managed to qualify for the final.
“On the day of the competition, during the heats, we left everything on the track and we did all we could during the 4x400m final,” he explained in an interview.
“The 4x100m relay was a surprise for many but as a team, we knew that we were going to run a National Record. As a coach and my athletes we had a plan for that, before we left, we had a model race in Gaborone that gave us 40 seconds, we were confident that we could set a new NR.
“The team did well because we did not have faster athletes, and Matakule was the only one who qualified for the 100m according to the qualification standards.”
Meanwhile, Manyapedza said there is still a lot of support needed for the women’s team, while motivation is also required.
Matakule clocked a personal best (PB) of 10.39s in round one followed up with a second PB of 10.28s during the 100m semi-final, finishing in third position and securing himself a spot in the final. The final proved difficult for Matakule as he completed the race in position nine with a time of 10.54s.
Tsaone Dintwa lined up in the men’s 400m heat, where he registered 47.54s, finishing in position six. However, he was disqualified due to lane infringement.
His counterpart, Junior Phatsima powered to the semi-final after finishing in position three with a time of 47.05s. The 400m semi final were strong for Phatsima as he settled for position five in 46.32s.
The only woman in the Under 20 team, Same Mhutsiwa claimed position five in 200m with a Season’s Best (SB) of 24.08s. Matakule’s was unfortunate as he got disqualified in the men’s 200m during a heat.
Jack Newman finished in position five with a time of 21.18s as he bowed out of the competition. The men’s 4x400m relay team comprising Warona Mokgosi (first leg), Phatsima (second leg), Resego Mabua (third leg) and Dintwa qualified for the final after winning their heat with an SB of 3:08.22.
The 4x100m quartet of Kopano Mpitsang (first leg), Matakule (second leg), Lucky Chivero (third leg) and Newman (anchor) clocked 39.84s to set a new National Under 20 Record as they finished in position four.
The 4x400m relay team that was made up of Mokgosi, Phatsima, Mabua and Dintwa settled for position six, stopping the clock with an SB of 3:05.80, an improvement from the 3:08.22 that they posted during the heats.
United States won the 4x400m in 3:01.39 (World Under 20 record), with South Africa claiming a silver medal and setting a new African Under 20 Record of 3:02.76 while France settled for a bronze medal with a new National Record of 3:04.80.