Lee Eppie
Lee Bhekempilo Eppie is a sprinter from Botswana. He was a silver medalist at the 2024 African Championships over 400 metres and a bronze medalist in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2025 World Athletics Relays.
Early life
In 2012 he started competing in athletics at primary school, and continued at both junior and senior school under the tutelage of Johnson Kubisa. In 2019, he moved to the United States to study and train at Mississippi State University.Career
He was a silver medalist for Botswana in the men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2017 African U20 Championships in Athletics in Tlemcen, Algeria.He won a silver medal at the 2024 African Championships in Athletics in the Men's 400 metres, running a personal best of 45.39 seconds to finish runner-up to Senegalese athlete Cheikh Tidiane Diouf in Douala, Cameroon in June 2024. He was named for the Botswana relay pool for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in August 2024, although he did not race at the Games.
In March 2025, he lowered his personal best to 45.20 seconds for the 400 metres. He was selected to compete for Botswana at the 2025 World Athletics Relays in China, winning a bronze medal as the Botswana men's 4 × 400 metres relay team came third in a time of 2:58.27. Over the summer of 2025 Eppie continued to lower his personal best on the 400 metres. First in June with a 45.00 in Geneva, follower by a 44.88 in July in Heusden-Zolder and finally a 44.40 in August in Francistown.
In September 2025, Eppie competed at the World Championships for the first time in his career. After coming in second in both his heat and semi-final he qualified for the final of the 400 metres, where he placed eighth. He later won a gold medal as part of the Botswana team in the men's 4 x 400 metres relay.