Before he became a world champion, Collen Kebinatshipi was just a schoolboy running “for fun” in primary school. He started out as a hurdler, but a meeting with coach Chilume “Chippa” Ntshwarang in 2019 changed his path. His coach saw something in him and pushed him toward the 400m, an event Kebinatshipi was initially afraid of. The move paid off as he became an Olympian, world champion, and, in 2026, won all six of his Diamond League races. Now, at just 22, he is setting his sights on an even bigger goal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“The world record is obviously always running in my mind. The world record talk will be on the table maybe in LA (at the 2028 Olympics),” he told World Athletics. That record belongs to Wayde van Niekerk, who ran 43.03 in 2016. Kebinatshipi believes he can eventually challenge the mark, with his training suggesting a 42.9 could be possible if he runs the first 200m in 20.9 and the second half in 22.0 or 22.1.

“But it’s not easy,” he said, adding that he is still relatively light and does not do much gym work. “For now, no pressure.” Kebinatshipi currently holds a personal best of 43.39, which puts him fifth on the world all-time list. He is only 0.36 seconds away from Van Niekerk’s 43.03 world record, but there are still three faster marks standing between him and the top spot.

Michael Johnson is second on the list with 43.18, while Butch Reynolds sits third at 43.29. Samuel Ogazi is just ahead of Kebinatshipi in fourth place with 43.38. That means Kebinatshipi first needs to break Ogazi’s mark, then move past Reynolds and Johnson before he can finally take aim at Van Niekerk’s record.

Interestingly, his 43.39 came after an outstanding 2026 season that has already changed the expectations around him. He went six for six in the Diamond League, set a Botswana national record of 43.40 in Brussels, and then lowered it again to 43.39 at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest.

That Budapest race also showed why Kebinatshipi believes he can run even faster. Instead of holding back early he attacked from the start, recording splits of 10.61 at 100m, 20.67 at 200m and 31.37 at 300m before crossing the line in 43.39. 

After crossing the line, Kebinatshipi even briefly blacked out and needed several minutes to recover in a wheelchair. “It’s normal,” he said, explaining that he knows what happens when he pushes his body to its limit. And now that same ambition puts him in strong position for LA 2028. But even if Kebinatshipi eventually breaks the 400m world record, he already has another challenge in mind.

Kebinatshipi has bigger plans beyond the 400m

At just 22, Kebinatshipi believes he has another 10 or 11 years in athletics, giving him plenty of time to test himself beyond the event that has made him a world champion. He already has the speed for a move to the 200m. His personal best of 20.08, set in 2025, shows that the shorter event is not unfamiliar territory. He also ran 9.89 twice over 100m in 2026.

His long-term plan is to first accomplish everything he wants in the 400m. Once he feels that chapter is complete, he wants to move down to the 200m and eventually test himself over the 800m. “Once I accomplish it, in less than five years, I’m going to move to the 200m and after achieving what I want, I can skip again, go to the 800m,” he said.

That confidence is easier to understand when you look at how quickly he has progressed. Athletics was not always a serious career plan for Kebinatshipi. Growing up in Lotlhakane East, he spent much of his childhood playing football and other sports. His father, John “The Horse” Kebinatshipi, recalled that his son loved sport from an early age and would sometimes sneak away to compete in school events, even when his parents wanted him to stay away from sport because of concerns about his health.

But Kebinatshipi loved running. He became serious about athletics in junior school, where he competed in the hurdles. At Mookami Junior Secondary School, he won bronze in the 100m hurdles at the COSASA school games before an injury eventually pushed him toward a different path. That change led him to coach Chilume “Chippa” Ntshwarang in 2019. When Ntshwarang suggested that Kebinatshipi focus on the flat 400m, the young runner was not convinced. 

The decision soon began to pay off. Kebinatshipi ran 47.21 in 2021 before dropping to 46.08 and 46.06 in 2022. Later that year, at just 18, he lowered his best to 45.40 and reached the World U20 400m final. By 2023, he had broken the 45-second barrier, running 44.91 to win the African U20 title. He was also running 20.48 for the 200m, another early sign of the speed that would later become a major part of his 400m success.

In 2024, he became an Olympian in Paris and lowered his 400m best again to 44.43 in the semifinal, narrowly missing the final. One year later, he was a world champion, running 43.53 in Tokyo. The progression is what makes his next targets so interesting.