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Botswana sprint sensation Letsile Tebogo put in a stunning display to help his country seal Olympic qualification in the 4x400m at the World Relays with USA disqualified from the race.
Botswana sprint sensation Letsile Tebogo inspired his country to Paris Olympic qualification in the 4x400m after edging out South Africa by the smallest of margins at the World Relay Championships in the Bahamas.
On a day of drama, when both USA and Olympic hosts France France were disqualified, Botswana – bolstered by a stunning 43.49 split from world 100m silver medallist Tebogo on leg two – produced the fastest clocking of the day in the men’s 4x400m heats, prevailing by 0.03 in a close battle with South Africa, 2:59.73 to 2:59.76.
Tebogo had put Botswana into the lead, then world record-holder Wayde van Niekerk regained pole position for South Africa on leg three. But Bayapo Ndori produced a 43.95 anchor for Botswana to give them victory in one of the closest finishes of the evening.
Meanwhile, USA and France suffered setbacks as they failed to secure Olympic qualification in all five events as expected.
It all came crashing down for both teams in the men’s 4x400m with USA disqualified from the first heat for moving out of the assigned order at one of the changeovers, while France’s second-leg runner Thomas Jordier – who had contested the mixed relay earlier in the day – suffered an injury in the fourth and final heat.
Both teams will get a second chance in the Olympic qualification round two on Sunday, but they would have preferred to have got the job done on Saturday.
World indoor champions Belgium also impressed. Anchored by world indoor 400m champion Alexander Doom, the Belgian quartet won their heat convincingly in 3:00.09 with Nigeria a distant second in 3:01.70.
In the first of the four heats, USA lived up to expectations by crossing the line in first place. But it later emerged that one of the US quartet had intentionally moved out of the set order for one of the changeovers, landing the team with a disqualification.
It meant that Japan, who had initially crossed the line in second place, were declared winners in 3:00.98 from Germany (3:01.25).
The third heat was the slowest but most competitive with five teams still in contention as they approached the final 100 metres of the last leg.
Italy’s Davide Re eventually pulled ahead to win in 3:01.68, while Britain’s Lewis Davey found space on the inside to move past Qatar and the Netherlands, claiming the runner-up spot in 3:02.10.
The 23 teams who missed out on Olympic qualification on Saturday will have another chance on Sunday of ensuring their place in Paris. The top six teams in the Olympic qualification round two will join the eight automatic qualifiers from Saturday.
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