04 Aug 2022

All eyes will be on two Batswana sprinters; Collen Kebinatshipi of 400 metres and Tebogo Letsile of 200m sprint as they will be competing in the finals, tomorrow morning at the on-going World Athletics Junior Championships in Cali, Columbia.
Kebinatshipi will take to the tracks first on lane three at 12:50am, alongside Yusuf Ali Abbas of Bahrain, Canadian Tyler Floyd, USA’s Steven McElroy, South Africa’s Lythe Pillay, Jamaica’s Delano Kennedy and Shaemar Uter and Joshua Atkinson of Thailand.
Tebogo will hit the track at 1:00am sharp. Although the record-breaking sprinter won a silver in the last edition of the games, this time expectations are high with anticipation that the youngster is likely to leave a mark in the 200-metre race, given that these would be his last Junior Championships.
Team Botswana Coach, Chilume Ntshwarang said all athletes would want to challenge Tebogo, adding that it was important for him to focus, and continue to do what he had been doing throughout the championships.
“Letsile is in his own league, he is in top shape, though we do not want to be complacent.  We are taking this final very serious,” he said.
Ntshwarang says the 400-metre race is going to be tough, adding that the idea will be to plan and fight.
“All the strong athletes are placed in lane four, five, and six, whereas we are in lane three, so I think it is easier to plan when you are coming from the back, where they cannot see what you are doing,” he said.
Talking about 4x100 relay, which will be starting their heat at 10.25pm, he said the team had been working hard on baton exchange.
“Tebogo will not be in the relay team because we want him to rest as he will be competing in the 200-metre finals. Our hope is to make it to the finals, and take it from there,” he said.
The 4 x100 metre men’s relay running in heat three, lane seven will compete against Jamaica, Japan, Germany, Thailand and Peru. ENDS
BOPA LC 4/8/22