The Botswana men's 4x400m relay team, which made history by becoming the first African country to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Relays, will smile all the way to the bank after pocketing $40,000 (approx. P543,000).
The team grabbed what had become an elusive gold medal with a world Leading (WL) time of 2:59.11 early Monday morning in Nassau, The Bahamas . The quartet of Collen Kebinatshipi (first leg), Letsile Tebogo (second leg), Leungo Scotch (third leg) and Bayapo Ndori (anchor) ensured Botswana earned the historic golden moment. Tebogo posted the fasted split of 43.72 followed by his training partner Ndori with 44.13 while Scotch ran 45.27 and the youngest team member, Kebinatshipi kept up the momentum with a 45.99 split. South Africa finished second position with a time of 3:00.75 and Belgium scooped the bronze after running 3:01.16.
The women's 4x400m relay team missed out on booking a slot in Paris after finishing in position five clocking 3:38.33. during the second round. The team's running order had Motlatsi Rante in the first leg, Galefele Moroko (second leg), Refilwe Murangi (third leg) while Christine Botlogetswe was the anchor The mixed relay that had Anthony Pesela, Obakeng Kamberuka, Boitumelo Masilo and Lydia Jele settled for position four in the second round, stopping the clock at 3:16.39 but missed out on qualifying for the Olympics.
