Botswana’s 21-year-old Collen Kebinatshipi came of age as an individual runner in the driving rain of Tokyo as he floated to victory in a men’s 400m final packed with up-and-coming talents, clocking a national record of 43.53 – the fastest time of the season.
In doing so, he became his nation’s first ever world champion in a men’s event.
In the final race of what has been a constantly surprising event at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, this lithe figure was pushed to the line by someone at the other end of his career, Trinidad and Tobago’s 31-year-old Jereem Richards, who earned silver in a national record of 43.72 from the tight and waterlogged inside lane.
On a night when Botswana had three finalists – briefly raising hopes of emulating the US medal sweep at the last World Championships to have been held in Japan, at Osako in 2007 – they ended up with two medals.
Bayapo Ndori, 24, came through to take bronze in a season’s best of 44.20 after the dogged challenge of Jamaica’s 33-year-old Rusheen McDonald faded in the closing stages, with a resulting fourth place in 44.28.
“This is my first title and it feels crazy,” said Kebinatshipi. “After the semifinal I really started to believe in myself. I told myself to go out fast and do better than in the semifinal. The medal was just a bonus.
“Being able to run the national record and a world lead is fantastic. I still have the relay – I have to go back and recover for it. I think we are a strong contender for gold. Having three athletes from Botswana running this final shows we are growing – we are really improving as Botswana and as Africa.”
The final had a fresh and open feel to it, given the way top performers had fallen away. None of the field from the 2023 world final were present, and only one from last year’s Olympic final: Richards.
Olympic champion Quincy Hall of the United States never got near Tokyo because of injury, and qualification proved beyond Britain’s Matt Hudson-Smith, silver medallist at the last World Championships and at Paris 2024, and Zambia’s Olympic bronze medallist Muzala Samukonga.
So, it was all to play for as far as the eight finalists were concerned – and while Kebinatshipi had been most impressive in the earlier rounds, there was no certainty that he would be able to maintain that standing in the biggest test of his career so far.
Kebinatshipi had already earned himself a fistful of medals at global and continental level, but all in the 4x400m – including Paris 2024 Olympic silver alongside Ndori and individual 200m champion Letsile Tebogo.
Having missed the individual Olympic final by one place last summer, Kebinatshipi secured global glory at his next attempt. But out of the corner of his eye he would have been aware of Richards, a world bronze medallist at 200m in 2017 and world indoor 400m champion in 2022.
Despite his unpromising lane, Richards maintained his challenge over the final 50 metres as that of his near-contemporary McDonald began to fade, and he finished full of running.
The Jamaican was one place ahead of South Africa’s Zakithi Nene, who topped the 2025 world list on 43.76 coming into Tokyo and who made much of the early running before finishing in 44.55, one place ahead of the Japanese runner Yuki Joseph Nakajima, who energised the packed stadium and clocked 44.62.
Jacory Patterson of the United States, who had come to Tokyo on the back of a personal best of 43.85 despite having to fund himself by working for as a box packer for delivery company UPS, competed with honour to reach the final but showed he was not yet the complete package, finishing seventh in 44.70. Eighth place, in 44.77, went to the third Botswana athlete in the field, Lee Bhekempilo Eppie.
“Finally,” said Richards. “I’ve been struggling for this since 2017. It was a hard battle, an amazing race. To improve the national record in the World Championships final was one of my dreams. Another goal was to grab the gold. Not this time, but I am satisfied with second.
“Today is a lucky day, not only for me, but for my roommate (and compatriot) Keshorn Walcott. Look, we both won medals – gold and silver. When we spoke about this before the competition it looked like a joke. Now it’s a reality.”
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
AloJapan.com