Botswana’s Karabo Sibanda set a second Personal Best (PB) in as many days when he ran a time of 44.25s to finish 5th in a historic 400m final, which ended with South Africa’s Wayde Van Niekerk smashing the former World Record (WR) of 43.18s to set a new time of 43.03s at the ongoing Olympic Games in Rio.
Sibanda already made history on Saturday, August 13, by qualifying for the men’s 400m final as one of the fastest losers in his race, making him the youngest Motswana to make it to an Olympic final at the age of 18.
The African Junior Champion is certainly one to watch out for, seeing that he has been Botswana’s shining light at the Olympics, following Nijel Amos’ early exit in the 800m, and Isaac Makwala’s non-qualification in the men’s 400m final.
Teammate Baboloki Thebe may have made the final as well, but the African double Champion had to forego the semis after being hit with injury.
Sibanda already has a lot to celebrate this season despite not making the podium in Rio, having won Silver in the men’s 400m at the African Senior Championships in Durban, and GOLD in the 4x400m where he played a vital role in the race by establishing a strong lead for Botswana.
He also claimed a Bronze medal at last month’s IAAF World Junior Championships in Poland before partnering with his teammates to win Silver in the 4x400m behind USA. He will now focus on the relays where the 4x400m team will be hoping to fight for honours.
