04 Jun 2019

Baboloki Thebe is the 2019 Josef Odložil Memorial 400 metres champion .

He ran a Season Best and Meeting Record of 45.09 in Prague, Czech Republic, on June 3.

Thebe, who was on lane six, looked relaxed despite a challenge from Vernon Norwood of the United States.

Thebe charged in the last 100 metres and cruised to the finish line to cancel the event’s previous record of 45.23.

Norwood came second with 45.23 whilst position three went to Slovenian sprinter Luka Janežič with 45.80.

Thebe said in an interview after the race that he was happy that he managed to improve his time.

Despite clocking the World Championship qualifying time, Thebe said he was not too excited because he qualified at the 2018 African Championships Athletics by virtue of being a champion.

He, however, said his focus was to qualify for Tokyo 2020, adding that he was mindful of the fact that it would be beneficial to reach his peak prior to the World Championships in September.

“Generally I am happy with my performance and for me it was not only competing here in Prague, but the highlight for me was honoring and commemorating Josef Odložil, who won silver in the 1500 metres in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games,” he said.

Track and field analyst, Lentswe Charles, said the race started on a high speed as all quarter milers blasted the curve from the blocks on high speed. At 120 metres he said, Thebe went strong leading the pack with a bit of acceleration to the finish.

“He hammered the back straight as if he was using electric feet and Norwood Vernon who was closer on lane five ran madly and never wanted to lose sight of Thebe,” he said.

According to Charles, in 200 metres the gap between Thebe and the rest widened, adding that a good positioning early by Thebe on the curve enabled him to emerge first from the curve at 300m into the homestretch without decelerating, but instead launching a sprint.

He said this alone proved that he had strong legs and a good strength development.

Charles said Thebe used a different technique from previous ones, adding that he distributed his energies in an efficient manner.

“It’s a very long season and he has some tough assignment with a bunch of international races in the coming months. 

The races will help him weigh himself before the major championships,” he said.

Thebe slightly missed the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games qualifying standard with about 0.09 milliseconds. ENDs