Letsile Tebogo joins 50 children in Gaborone for Kids’ Athletics Day; start of month-long global celebration

From Botswana to Brazil: How kids are celebrating World Athletics Day

World Athletics’ flagship participation programme for children aims to reach two million kids this year. Find out how countries across the world are hosting activities for the youth.

Just a day before leadingBotswanato a historic 4x100m relay qualification for theWorld Athletics Championships, home heroLetsile Tebogowas focused on something bigger: inspiring the next generation to tryathleticsand dream beyond limits.

TheOlympic 200m championjoined 50 children in Botswana’s capitalGaborone, host of the 2026World Athletics Relays, as the youngsters took part in movement-based activities and relay-inspired challenges.

The special activation in Botswana marked the start of a month-long global celebration ofKids’ Athletics Day, held annually on7 May.

“It’s all about the kids, it’s not about me,”saidTebogo. “What I do is for the kids. Many of them don’t have enough resources to help them pursue their dreams, so I try to meet them halfway and help ensure everything falls into place.

“Athletics helped me stay off the streets and out of trouble, and it has continued to give me so many opportunities. Being involved withKids’ Athleticsis one of them and I hope to show young people why they should dream big and have fun doing this sport," he added.

Kids’ Athletics, World Athletics’ flagship participation programme for children, is designed to develop fundamental movement and athletics skills in a fun, safe and inclusive way, using the power of the sport to inspire children around the world to be more active.

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Since its launch in 2022, the programme has reached 1.3 million children in schools, clubs and communities across the world.

This year, to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the programme, World Athletics aims to get more than 700,000 kids moving and take the total to 2 million.

“Kids’ Athletics builds on a really important platform,” said World Athletics PresidentSebastian Coe. “Athletics is the queen of all sports. It requires every element of physical literacy – the same skills and movement patterns young people need for football, rugby, tennis or whatever sport they choose.

“Introducing those skills, those physical qualities and those patterns of exercise at a young age is really critical. That is what Kids’ Athletics does. It does a lot more than just introduce young people to athletics.”

Member associations from across the globe are hosting their own activations and competing in avirtual leaderboard.

Only a week into the 1-31 May campaign,Ugandaleads the race with more than 50,000 participants taking part in 24 activities.Kenyasits second, followed byBenin,BrazilandVenezuela.

More than 60 activations have been held across Brazil, thanks to a campaign led by the national federation,Confederação Brasileira de Atletismo.

The South American nation, which has more than 80 athletics centres spread across the country, will honour the one which attracts the most participants.

While Africa and South America lead by example, campaigns in Asia are also picking up.

ThePeople’s Republic of Chinakicked off its celebrations in Linfen on 4 May, as 700 children took part in a day-long festival as part of a larger sports week hosted by Shanxi Province.

A 1km obstacle run around the local park was among the activities in China, which aims to reach 10,000 people through its actions.

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Picture by 2017 Getty Images