GABORONE, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Botswanan Minister of Sport and Arts Jacob Kelebeng on Tuesday expressed his delight over Botswana's having been awarded the hosting rights for the 2026 World Athletics Relays.

"We have done it," Kelebeng wrote on his social media account, congratulating the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) for the milestone.

This will be the first time for Botswana to host a senior world event in any sport and the first time the World Athletics relays to be hosted in Africa.

The good news was announced by World Athletics president Sebastian Coe earlier Tuesday at the end of the two-day council meeting in Nanjing, China.

The event is scheduled to be hosted in Gaborone, capital of Botswana, on May 2 to May 3, according to the World Athletics press release.

The hosting of the world event marks a big milestone in Botswana's ascendance to the top in athletics and coincides with the country's 60th Independence celebrations in 2026.

Botswana's men 4x400m relay team is a force to reckon in the event. They are the reigning world relays champions having won gold at the 2024 event held in the Bahamas before wrapping up their season with an Olympic silver medal. The team has three world relay medals including a bronze, a silver and gold.

Moreover, the Botswana team has already started preparations to defend their gold at the upcoming 2025 World Athletics Relays to be held in Guangzhou, China in May this year. Reigning Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo is expected to be remain part of the team. Enditem

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