It is in Lotlhakane East where the now world champion, Collen Busang Kebinatshipi, used to kick a football in the dusty streets, but he ended up on the track. Last week, Kebinatshipi made history by becoming the nation’s first-ever male world champion, when he set a new National Record (NR) and Personal Best (PB) of 43.53 at the 2025 World Athletics Championships held in Tokyo. He also anchored the 4x400m relay team to a gold medal, meaning he achieved a rare feat on his World Championships debut. He is also an Olympic silver medallist as he was part of the men’s 4x400m relay team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. He was also in the Botswana men’s 4x400m relay team that won gold at the 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi. Kebinatshipi defied his father’s orders not to take part in sport due to ill-health concerns.
Kebinatshipi is the lastborn in a family of four from his father's first marriage. His mother, who hailed from Hukuntsi, is deceased. Kebinatshipi's father, John 'The Horse' Kebinatshipi, told MmegiSport that his son grew up as an introvert, enjoyed watching sport. Kebinatshipi adored his father, who was a football player. “I used to be an athlete and played football for various clubs such as Kanye Swallows and BMC Football club, where Township Rollers showed interest in recruiting me. I was also part of the formation of Desert Nxau in Tsabong," John said. He said Kebinatshipi showed interest at an early age. "From the primary level, he liked sports; he used to run and play football. As parents, we wanted him to quit sports because we were worried about his health status. But during school competitions, he used to dodge from home to go and participate. At first, I used to think he had gone there to watch only to learn that he was competing and winning races,” he said. Kebinatshipi did his pre-primary education at Kidz Academy in Kanye in 2008 before proceeding to Phutisutlha in Lotlhakane East for his primary schooling. He then went to Mookane Junior Secondary School and completed his senior education at Seepapitso Secondary School in Kanye in 2022. Kebinatshipi said his son’s love for sport was apparent because he did not like to lose. The father pointed out a football ground, just a stone's throw away from their homestead, where Kebinatshipi and his friends used to play football and also have their races. “I then decided to let him enjoy sport, and I started to believe in him. We used to even kick the ball together. When he was at Mookane JSS, he used to be a hurdler under the late coach Rakwena, who is the one who discovered him," he said. "At that point, he met Isaac Makwala, he motivated him a lot and even gifted him with his biography, The Solo Runner-The Untold Story of Isaac Makwala. That book was an inspiration to my boy," Kebinatshipi senior added.
