TOKYO, Japan – Mississippi State alumnus Lee Eppie helped his home country of Botswana to gold in the 4x400m at the World Championships.
Eppie ran on the first leg of the relay for Botswana, coming out of the blocks in lane five. He completed the first handoff with a 45.16 split, sitting in third overall with a 0.56 gap between him and first place.
Eppie handed off to Letsile Tebogo (BOT), a fixture on the relay for his home country. Tebogo, the reigning Olympic 200m champion and 4x400m silver medalist, overtook Qatar and Belgium to hand off just behind the USA.
Botswana trailed behind the United States ahead of the final leg of the relay, with the new 400m world champion, Busang Collen Kebinatshipi (BOT), waiting to finish the race. Kebinatshipi overtook Rai Benjamin (USA), the 400m hurdles world champion, to earn gold for Botswana in 2:57.76.
Eppie and the rest of Team Botswana have ended the USA’s winning streak, with this being the first loss in the event for the United States since 2017. This is also the first time that Africa has won a medal in the event since 2011.
Eppie’s relay team was stacked with the new 400m world champion and bronze medalist, and a reigning Olympic Champion. The depth of his team helped bring Botswana its third medal of the championships, all of which were earned on the track.
Eppie added to the five medalist performances by former Bulldogs at the World Championships and was the sole gold medalist for State at the event. Anderson Peters and Curtis Thompson took home silver and bronze in the javelin, and Marco Arop earned bronze in the 800m.
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AloJapan.com