Six performances under 44 seconds and a string of record breaking runs have propelled Collen Kebinatshipi into contention for World Athlete of the Year.
BONGANI MALUNGA
Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi has capped a historic 2026 campaign with a nomination for the prestigious Men’s World Athlete of the Year award, putting him in contention to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Letsile Tebogo. World Athletics confirmed on Tuesday that the 22 year old is among the 10 nominees for the men’s honour, with the winners to be crowned at the World Athletics Awards in Monaco on November 29.
RECORD PACE
Kebinatshipi’s nomination is backed by a remarkable collection of performances and records. His season reached its peak at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest last month, where he stormed to the 400m title in a Botswana national record of 43.39 seconds, moving him to fifth on the world all time list.
That Budapest run was also his sixth performance under 44 seconds of the season, making him the first man in history to dip below 44 seconds six times in a single year. He also produced three of the nine fastest 400m performances ever recorded, 43.39, 43.40 and 43.44.
DIAMOND DOMINANCE
His dominance stretched across the Diamond League circuit, where he went six for six and claimed the overall title. Along the way, Kebinatshipi rewrote the Diamond League record three times, running 43.54 in Paris, 43.44 in Monaco and lowering it further to 43.40 in the Brussels final.
BEYOND 400M
His record breaking year has not been confined to the individual 400m. Kebinatshipi helped Botswana win the men’s 4x400m at the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone in an African record 2:54.47, while he also demonstrated his raw speed by clocking 9.89 seconds twice over 100m at the Botswana Championships in April.
CHASING HISTORY
The nomination gives Kebinatshipi an opportunity to become only the second Motswana to win the World Athlete of the Year crown. Tebogo captured the men’s overall award in 2024 after his historic Olympic 200m triumph in Paris, where he became Botswana’s first Olympic champion, and was also named Men’s Track Athlete of the Year that season.
Kebinatshipi faces a star studded field that includes pole vault world record holder Mondo Duplantis, 400m hurdles world record holder Alison dos Santos, sprinter Kenneth Bednarek and marathon world record holder Sabastian Sawe. Voting closes on October 17, before the three men’s finalists are announced in November.
After describing 2026 as only the beginning of his rise, Kebinatshipi recently told World Athletics, “My plan is just to dominate for the longest period possible.”