Gaborone 2026 World Relays: Modest Sum Team Kenya Earned from Tough Outing in Botswana

Team Kenya did not have such an impressive outing at the 2026 World Relays in Gaborone, Botswana.

Kenya featured in five of the six events but only reached the final in one of them which significantly reduced their earnings.

It means only one team got to earn a share of the prize money on offer from World Athletics in Botswana.

Kenya had both mixed relays teams in 4x100m and 4x400m, men’s and women’s teams in 4x400m as well as the men’s 4x100m whose headline act was Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala.

However, only the mixed 4x400m relay team made it to the final from Saturday’s first qualifying round, having clocked an African record 3:09.87. That also earned them an automatic ticket to the 2027 World Championships in Beijing.

On Sunday, the other four teams had a chance to seal their direct tickets to Beijing but all missed out and they will now have to do it in a tougher and longer route.

Kenya’s 4x400m mixed relay finalists had fast-rising Mercy Oketch, Mercy Chebet, Kelvin Tonui and George Mutinda who were hoping to bring home a medal.

During the race, Mutinda did well to stay in the leading pack and then handed the baton to Mercy Chebet, who struggled to maintain the same momentum, but Tonui would raise the game on the third leg after which he handed it to Oketch on the anchor leg.

Oketch would stay in contention for third place but saw her lead disappear on the home straight when Great Britain’s Yemi John closed in to steal bronze at the finish line.

Kenya was forced to settle for fourth place, missing out on the medals from a race that promised much more, but they will at least not walk home empty handed.

At the 2026 World Relays, winning teams in each event were awarded $40,000 (Ksh5.1 million), $20,000 (Ksh2.6 million) and $10,000 (Ksh1.3 million) for second and third place respectively.

However, there are also rewards for fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth place. Fourth place attracted $8,000 (Ksh1 million) which is what Kenya’s 4x400m mixed relay team will earn.

It is the only Kenyan team that will receive prize money from Gaborone as the other four did not make it to the final.