Gaborone witnessed something extraordinary on Sunday. South Africa’s relay machines didn’t just compete at the World Athletics Relays, they rewrote history, obliterated records, and served notice that they belong among the global elite. Though the defending champions fell short of retaining their crowns, claiming silver in both the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m finals, the numbers they posted will echo through the athletics world for years to come.

This wasn’t a case of settling for second. This was a statement.

In the men’s 4x400m final, Mthi Mthimkulu, Lythe Pillay, teenage sensation Leendert Koekemoer and anchor Zakithi Nene tore around the track in 2:55.07, a South African record that shattered the previous mark and catapulted the quartet into rarefied air. They finished just half a second behind host nation Botswana, who claimed gold in 2:54.47 and set a new African record in the process.

But here’s where it gets properly wild. Those two teams now occupy the No 2 and No 3 spots in the all-time global rankings, sitting behind only the United States’ world record of 2:54.29. Read that again, South Africa’s relay team is now the second-fastest 4x400m quartet in history.

And then there’s Lythe Pillay’s leg. The South African sprinter didn’t just run fast, he ran faster than anyone has ever recorded on a 400m relay split. Pillay blazed through his section in an astonishing 42.66 seconds, nearly three-tenths quicker than the split American legend Michael Johnson clocked back in 1993. That’s not just quick. That’s supernatural.

“The boys really stepped up and delivered what they needed to – what was expected of them and more – and I’m super proud of the national record we ran,” Pillay said afterwards, his voice tinged with the kind of satisfaction that only comes from leaving everything on the track.

If the 4x400m was about breaking barriers, the men’s 4x100m final was about defying the odds. Missing injured first-choice stars Gift Leotlela, Bayanda Walaza and Sinesipho Dambile, the makeshift quartet of Mvuyo Moss, Cheswill Johnson, Bradley Nkoana and the indomitable Akani Simbine completed the one-lap dash in 37.49 seconds, another South African record, finishing just 0.06 behind the victorious United States team who clocked 37.43.

Six-hundredths of a second. A blink. A breath. That’s all that separated them from gold.

For Simbine, the national 100m record holder and the veteran anchor of this squad, the performance validated his belief in the depth of South African sprinting. “I’m proud of the guys for showing up. I knew they were going to be able to do it,” he said.

The record-breaking rampage wasn’t confined to the men. On Saturday, the women’s 4x100m team of Viwe Jingqi, Kayla la Grange, Gabriella Marais and Joviale Mbisha clocked 43.22 in their heat, good enough for fourth place and another South African record, even if it wasn’t quite enough to reach the final.

Beyond the medals and records, the weekend delivered something equally crucial: qualification. The men’s 4x100m and 4x400m teams both punched their tickets to the 2027 World Athletics Championships, as did the mixed 4x400m squad, who finished second in their Sunday heat.

South Africa arrived in Gaborone as defending champions. They left as the second-fastest 4x400m team in history, the owners of multiple national records, and with proof that even without a full-strength squad, they can go toe-to-toe with the world’s best.

Sometimes silver shines just as bright as gold.