19 Jun 2017

Botswana’s 400 metre runner, Baboloki ‘Hurricane’ Thebe’s presence was undoubtedly felt at the Scandinavian countries during the Diamond league meeting  in Oslo and Stockholm.

On Thursday, Thebe took Oslo by storm when he dipped with a time of 44.95 to ensure that he accumulate eight solid  points, sending early warnings to his competitors of what to expect at the world championships billed for London late this year.

Position two went to Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith with 45.16, followed by Pavel Maslák of Cze Republic, with 45.52.

On Sunday in Stockholm, Thebe who was sharing the same track with his country man, Onkabetse Nkobolo, continued with his good performance as he finished on position two with a time of 44.99 in the event pocketing seven points.

On position one was Steven Gardiner of Bahamas who clocked 44.58, and Nkobolo finished on position seven with 46.24.

The results now mean that Thebe leads the 400 metres table with 22 points he accumulated from the three races. On position two is Gardiner with 16 points, while position three is occupied by USA’s sprinter LaShwawn Merritt with 15 points.

Thebe told BOPA he was happy with his performance although he will have to work hard back home.

“As you might be aware I am just recovering from an injury,. Therefore, I have not been training well and during the race especially the Stockholm meet I did not want to be hard on myself.

I am currently looking at the bigger pricture, which is world champs,” he said.

Furthermore, he said the most important thing at the Diamond League is to win races and times would come at a later stage.

Sport journalist Bapati Mmotlanyane who has been monitoring  Thebe’s performance said the athlete performance in the last two races was beyond satisfactory.

 “All in all he has been a revelation in the past two meetings. It is worth noting that he is still fresh from recurring injuries but his performance graph speaks volumes of the amount of talent that he is,” he said.
 

Furthermore, Mmotlanyane said Thebe had the ability to better his season’s best, adding his demonstration of power sprinting was evolving progressively.

 For now, he said the athlete was just getting back to shape and therefore it was a bonus that he was sitting at the summit of the Diamond League Race Standings.

 “But of course now he has walked into a list of the ever interesting rivalry in the 400m which includes Van-Niekerk,Kiran  James, Merritt and the in-form Gardiner who is proving to be one fine athlete in the 400m which makes the London showpiece more compelling,” he said. ENDS