The day athletics fans have been waiting for is finally here, as the long-awaited World Athletics Relays officially gets underway in Gaborone, Botswana, on Saturday.
This marks a historic weekend in Botswana, as the Debswana World Athletics Relays Gaborone ’26 sees the global competition take place in Africa for the first time.
The tickets have been selling like hotcakes, with the National Stadium in Gaborone packed to the rafters on Day 1 of the event, with locals already giving the world a taste of what Africa is all about.
“I love moments like this because, by background, I’m a historian, and I like to be part of historic moments,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe ahead of the two-day event.
“The very fact that these relays are coming to Africa for the first time means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to the continent.
“This is a continent that has, over the last 50 years, delivered many passionate, talented, and extraordinary athletes into our sport. The history of athletics in this continent is, in large part, the history of world athletics in the last half-century.
Coe added: “I’m delighted that this cements some really important assets. The first is the opportunity to use this event as a way of demonstrating that Africa has come of age – it is a continent where we genuinely want to share our championships, our big explosive moments.
“I also want this to be inspirational. I want it to be an inspiration for the young people sitting in that stadium who are, I hope, going to be following in the footsteps of the great athletes that we have here.”
Coe also highlighted the importance of the competition as the main qualification event for relays at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in September and next year’s World Athletics Championships Beijing 27.
“There is a bit of jeopardy here,” he said. “The prize pot ups the ante. We have roughly 700 athletes from about 40 countries here, which is a great turnout.
“I can’t thank you enough – the athletes, the Botswana Athletics Federation, and the LOC, our sponsors, the volunteers, and the media for being here this morning,” Coe concluded.
Two World Records (WR) were already set in a short space of time in the opening heats of the 4x100m mixed relays, when Canada broke the record set by the USA with a time of 40.07 seconds.
However, it did not take long for Canada’s record to be broken, with Jamaica clocking 39.99 in their heat to set a new WR. Both the Canadians and Jamaicans have already qualified for the World Athletics Championship to be held in China next year.
- The day athletics fans have been waiting for is finally here, as the long-awaited World Athletics Relays officially gets underway in Gaborone, Botswana, on Saturday.
- This marks a historic weekend in Botswana, as the Debswana World Athletics Relays Gaborone ’26 sees the global competition take place in Africa for the first time.
- The tickets have been selling like hotcakes, with the National Stadium in Gaborone packed to the rafters on Day 1 of the event, with locals already giving the world a taste of what Africa is all about.
- “I love moments like this because, by background, I’m a historian, and I like to be part of historic moments,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe ahead of the two-day event.
- “The very fact that these relays are coming to Africa for the first time means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to the continent.
