Botswana brought the curtain down on the Debswana World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26 in unforgettable fashion on Sunday (3), winning the men’s 4x400m in a competition record of 2:54.47 as the National Stadium erupted for the host nation.

Running in the final event of the weekend, the world champions delivered the performance the home crowd had come to see – and then some. Their time was not only a national record and the fastest ever recorded at the World Relays, but also the third-fastest performance in history.

By the time the baton reached the closing stages, the noise inside the stadium had become almost overwhelming. Botswana had carried the expectation of a nation into the last race of the programme, and they responded with a performance of authority, precision and nerve to seal one of the defining moments in World Relays history.

It was a fitting finale to the first World Athletics Series event to be held in Botswana, a weekend that had already produced world leads, area records and national records across the relay disciplines. But nothing matched the emotion of the closing race, as Botswana’s 4x400m quartet turned home support into history.

Lee Eppie gave the home team an early lead with a 44.26 leg before handing over to Letsile Tebogo. The Olympic 200m champion strode out along the back straight but, despite running a 43.50 split, was caught by Lythe Pillay towards the end of the second leg after the South African managed a sensational 42.66 split - the fastest in 4x400m history.

Reece Holder moved Australia into contention too with a 43.12 effort on the second leg and it soon became clear that the host nation wouldn’t have it all their own way.

Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori chased South African teenager Leendert Koekemoer on the third leg, while Australia’s Thomas Reynolds edged closer to the lead pair. There was little to separate the three leading teams as they embarked on the final leg.

Fortunately for Botswana, they still had world champion Collen Kebinatshipi to call upon. He moved level with South Africa’s Zakithi Nene and Australia’s Aidan Murphy with 200 metres to go and they ran together for the next 100 metres before Kebinatshipi broke free from his challengers on the home straight.

Roared on by the vocal home crowd, he charged through the line in 2:54.47, smashing the championship record by almost three seconds. South Africa placed second in 2:55.07 and Australia were third in 2:55.20, the fifth and sixth fastest performances in history.

"We wanted to break the world record, we didn't care about the gold," said Eppie, Botswana's first-leg runner. "We polished the mistakes before we got into the race and everything was perfect from start to finish.

"This was the best moment in my career," said Tebogo. "I'm sure there is more to come but this has been my biggest highlight so far. It is not about the medals at the Olympics or World Championships but how the crowd has held us together."

Further back, Portugal held off Zimbabwe to finish fourth in 2:59.75 to Zimbabwe’s 2:59.79. The Netherlands (3:00.13) and Belgium (3:00.69) were sixth and seventh, while Qatar were disqualified.

In the second World Championships qualifying round, Senegal emerged as surprise winners of a hotly contested first heat in 3:01.28 ahead of Spain (3:01.37). The second heat was similarly competitive with Japan coming out on top in 3:00.19 ahead of Brazil (3:00.45).

Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Result: 1 Botswana 2:54.47, 2 South Africa 2:55.07, 3 Australia 2:55.20, 4 Portugal 2:59.75, 5 Zimbabwe 2:59.79, 6 Netherlands 3:00.13, 7 Belgium 3:00.69, Qatar DQ.

The eight finalists have qualified for the World Athletics Championships Beijing 27, with their finishing order determining their lane seeding positions.

The other teams to qualify for Beijing through Sunday’s additional round were: Brazil, Japan, Senegal, Spain.