There was collective disappointment on Tuesday night as Bayapo Ndori was ferried off the track by medics during the 400m semi-finals at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Steven Gardiner, who was favoured to win the race, also came down a few meters before the home stretch. Ndori had a good start only to go down with 300m left. The one lap specialist made history last year at the Oregon 22 World Athletics Championships where he reached the final. Ndori had qualified for the semi-final in Budapest by winning his heat with an impressive 44.72s. Ndori was pushing for a slot in what would have been a second successive world championships final in his young career. The athlete is also part of the men’s 4x400m relay team.
Speaking to Mmegi Online, Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) vice president-administration Oabona Theetso said he is currently not aware of the magnitude of the injury as the athlete is still receiving medical attention. “Until we get a medical report, I can be able to inform you about the magnitude of his injury. The rest of the team is fine at the moment, getting injured is part of the game,” he said. Meanwhile, it was end of the road for other 400m runners, Collen Kebinatshipi and Leungo Scotch who finished last in heat one and two. The youngster, Kebinatshipi clocked 45.96s while Scotch registered 46.39s. In the 800m race, Tshepiso Masalela progressed to the semi-final after finishing in position four with a time of 1:45.60, which meant he qualified as the fastest non automatic qualifier.
