‘People Are Expecting a Lot from Me but I Have My Own Plan’: World Champion Kebinatshipi Ready for New Season Challenges

Collen Kebinatshipi admits the weight of expectation is heavy but insists he is charting his own path.

‘People are expecting a lot from me but I have my own planm,’ the 22-year-old tells the Diamond League website.

The Motswana star is preparing for Saturday’s Xiamen Diamond League, where he will contest the men’s 400m against a world-class field.

It marks his first appearance over the distance this season, following a breakthrough 2025 campaign in which he stormed to World Championship gold in Tokyo with a national record of 43.53 seconds.

That triumph raised expectations, which only grew last month when Kebinatshipi stunned the sprinting world by winning the national 100m title in 9.89 seconds.

Twice in one day, he clocked the same time, performances that showcased the speed work he and coach Chilume ‘Chippa’ Ntshwarang had emphasized early in the season.

‘It wasn’t really a surprise to me,’ Kebinatshipi explains. ‘Early season we said, ‘Let’s put some speed in.’ My training was focused on speed, we did training in the blocks and we predicted it well. Coach said I would run 10.0 or 9.9. It shows the speed is there. Now we can go back to the 400 and keep it going.’

While his 100m exploits grabbed headlines, Kebinatshipi insists the focus has now shifted back to the 400m, balancing endurance with speed.

‘I came here to enjoy myself and see how the fitness level is,’ he says of the Xiamen race. ‘Then we can go back to training and do more blocks.’