Collen Kebinatshipi, the 21-year-old sprint sensation from Botswana, has set his sights on breaking Wayde van Niekerk’s 400m world record after his historic gold medal win at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last month. Kebinatshipi clocked an impressive 43.53 seconds, the 10th-fastest time in history, to claim the title, becoming the first male athlete from Botswana to achieve such a feat. Van Niekerk’s world record of 43.03 seconds, set during the 2016 Rio Olympics, remains the benchmark Kebinatshipi aspires to surpass. ‘Records are meant to be broken,’ Kebinatshipi confidently stated in an interview with Newsday on the BBC World Service. ‘If I stay focused and injury-free, everything is possible.’ His victory in Tokyo was a surprise even to himself, as he had narrowly missed the Olympic final in Paris 2024. ‘My goal was just to reach the final in Tokyo,’ he admitted. ‘I didn’t expect to win a medal so soon.’ Kebinatshipi’s triumph was followed by a unique celebration—push-ups on the Tokyo track—a tribute to his compatriot Isaac Makwala, who famously performed the same act during the 2017 World Championships. Kebinatshipi’s success extended to the 4x400m relay, where he anchored Botswana to a thrilling gold medal, edging out the United States and South Africa by a mere seven hundredths of a second. The team’s victory was celebrated with a national holiday in Botswana, marking a turning point in Kebinatshipi’s career. ‘This is just the start,’ he said. ‘I have to stay focused for what’s to come in the next decade.’