Busang Collen Kebinatshipi won his second race of the 2026 Diamond League with a meeting record of 43.54 seconds in the men’s 400m at the Meeting de Paris on Sunday, 28 June.
The athletics star from Botswana took charge of the race after the last bend to seal the title, having also won last May in Xiamen.
South Africa’s Zakithi Nene was second in 43.89, with USA’s Chris Bailey finishing third in a personal best of 44.06.
Having taken a break after the World Athletics Relays, where reigning world champion Kebinatshipi led his team to 4x400m relay gold on home soil in Gaborone, the 22-year-old returned in typically excellent form, leading home a world-class field.
The world champion’s time was just 0.01 shy of the PB he set when winning his global title and took 0.06 off the previous Diamond League record set by Michael Norman in 2022.
It’s also the second-fastest time this year behind fellow African Samuel Ogazi of Nigeria’s 43.38.
“It was a good race. I just wanted to come in and do my best. Yesterday I looked up the meeting record which was my goal and now I even went faster. I always say that this is my season so I enjoy every race,” said Kebinatshipi after the race.
“Today it went cloudy a bit so the heat didn´t challenge me that much. I executed the race exactly as I discussed with my coach yesterday,” he concluded.
