Tag: Letsile Tebogo

Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo said he could have become a delinquent if the sport of athletics had not given him a focus.

Tebogo, who stunned the field in Paris last year to became Botswana’s first Olympic gold medallist in any sport, said he would take the lessons he learned from his childhood into his new role as a global ambassador for the Kids Athletics scheme.

 “Sport has really helped me a lot because I think without sport … probably I would be a criminal by now,” 21-year-old Tebogo told reporters on a video conference call.

 “In the neighbourhood where I grew up there were a lot of criminals, it was the only way to survive.

 “But then with sport I knew I had to go to school and with training you are tired. You don’t have time to roam the streets and go into people’s houses,” he added.

 “So once I discovered that I tried to pull in a few friends of mine … and now they are playing football.

 “We always talk about if this didn’t work out, where would we be?”

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The Kids Athletics programme, overseen by World Athletics and targeted at children aged four to 14, is focused on maximizing participation and enjoyment through modified games and competitions based on track and field events.

Tebogo, who after the call took part in a relay event with around 1,000 children on the same grounds in Botswana where he used to train as a boy, recalled that he initially preferred football.

 “I was more of a footballer, a left-winger. The teachers at my primary school forced me into athletics,” he said.

”(Athletics) wasn’t that popular in Botswana back then, until the Commonwealth Games 2018.

 “From my side I just wanted to see where it would take me. Athletics was just a part-time thing for me.”

His switch of sports paid off handsomely at the Olympics when he crossed the line at the Stade de France in an African record of 19.46sec, leaving Kenny Bednarek of the USA second and 100m champion Noah Lyles in the bronze-medal position.

Tebogo called Lyles “arrogant” after that race and suggested the cameras would always prefer the brash American.

He clarified those remarks, saying: “When you get onto the track, it’s all about business.

 “When we finish, you can be friends, life goes on. “But the ‘arrogance’ (of Lyles)… he is good to sell our sport. But with me, I’ll always shy away from doing that because that’s me.”

Tebogo came second in a rare outing at 400m in Melbourne last weekend and will run a 200m race at a meeting in Botswana next week as he sharpens his speed before heading to the Diamond League meetings in Xiamen and Shanghai on April 26 and May 3 respectively.

He said he expected his rivals to be gunning for him as they build towards the World Championships in Tokyo in September.

 “Everybody who’s there on the line-up, it’s a rival. You cannot eliminate somebody because he didn’t perform well at the 2024 Olympics or 2023 World Championships,” Tebogo said.

Letsile Tebogo, having basked in the “insane” celebrations in Botswana after he returned to show off the 200m gold won at the Paris Olympics, now insists he will retrain his sights to mine more sprint medals.

The 21-year-old raced to victory in the French capital in an African record of 19.46sec, a time that took him to fifth on the all-time list.

He also became the first African to win the Olympic 200 metres.

Tebogo returned to a rapturous welcome in Gaborone, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi greeting the sprinter and other Olympic athletes after he had declared an impromptu half-day holiday.

 “Tebogo has made history not only for Botswana but in Africa,” Masisi told tens of thousands of people who had packed the city’s national stadium as part of the celebrations.

Tebogo said the welcome back had been “absolutely insane. Seeing over 30,000 people at the stadium and along the roads as I returned home was truly amazing”.

 “The support was overwhelming. I believe my life has changed because of this and I’ve also changed a lot of lives in my home country.”

Having now returned to Europe, Tebogo will go head-to-head with American Fred Kerley over 200m at today’s Diamond League meeting in Lausanne.

The road ahead, he said, involved bringing the 100m and the 400m more into his crosshairs.

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 “We’ve talked it through with my coach about the possibility of competing in the 400m,” he said, having also been part of Botswana’s 4x400m relay squad that won a thrilling silver in Paris.

 “The plan is to focus on the 100 and 200m first. After winning gold in both, we’ll then consider switching to the 400m.

 “Since I’ve already won the 200m gold, now the 100m is the main goal.”

While South African Reggie Walker won the 100m gold at the 1908 London Games, it has not been repeated in modern history.

The closest an African sprinter has come was Frankie Fredericks, the Namibian winning two 100m silvers (along with two 200m silvers) at both the 1992 and 1996 Games.

 “I don’t see that as a disadvantage,” Tebogo said of no African winning it in recent times.

 “Instead, it’s more of an encouragement to make history.”

His 200m gold in Paris had been a boon “not just for my country, but also for the entire African continent”, Tebogo argued. “I’ve shown that against all odds, everything is possible.”

He added: “What happens next in my life as an athlete is about continuing to push those boundaries and inspire more people to believe in their potential.

 “The journey has just begun and I’m excited for what the future holds.”

Tebogo received two houses from the government as a reward for his gold medal showing, but he insisted he would stay put at the home of his late mother Seratiwa’s for the time being.

His mother, who travelled to many of the meets and championships he raced in, died suddenly in May whilst Tebogo was away in the United States.

 “I’m probably just going to rent those two out because I’m not moving away from my mum’s house!”

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo claimed a surprise Olympic 200m gold medal as Noah Lyles was denied a sprint double at Paris 2024.

Tebogo, 21, stormed clear of his rivals to clock an African record of 19.46 seconds and finish ahead of American Kenneth Bednarek, who crossed the line in 19.62.

Lyles, crowned the world’s fastest man by five-thousandths of a second in a historically quick 100m final on Sunday night, was unable to compete at the head of the race and matched his Tokyo bronze in 19.70.

It emerged after the race that Lyles had tested positive for Covid and the 27-year-old had to be helped off the track in a wheelchair.

Having burst out on to the track to huge cheers before the race, Lyles was seeking to become the first man since Usain Bolt to complete a 100m and 200m double at an Olympic Games.

But Tebogo had other ideas.

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A world bronze medallist over the distance last year, Tebogo also took 100m silver in Budapest as Lyles completed a golden treble.

That was a dazzling return for Tebogo at his first global championship, but it was nothing compared to his achievement at the Stade de France as he marked his first Olympics with a gold.

Tebogo, sixth in the Paris 100m final, lined up with a 200m personal best of 19.50 – notably down on the favourite’s 19.31.

Showman Lyles made his entrance to huge excitement, seemingly ready to seize his moment with the eyes of the world fixed upon him, but he remained third throughout following a slow start.

Bednarek held out to equal his silver of three years ago in Tokyo – a medal he also won at the 2022 World Championships – but could not overhaul Tebogo.

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo set the fastest time in the men’s Olympic 200 metres semi-finals, proving his intent to upset American Noah Lyles’ quest for a sprint double.

Tebogo, the reigning world bronze medallist, overtook the American 100 metres champion on the bend and cruised the rest of the way unchallenged to finish in 19.96 seconds. The 27-year-old Lyles had to work hard to finish second in 20.08.

Americans Kenny Bednarek, Olympic silver medallist in Tokyo, and Erriyon Knighton each won their semi-finals, Bednarek clocking 20.00 and the 20-year-old Knighton crossing in 20.09.

Rounding out the field for today’s final are Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic, Joseph Fahnbulleh of Liberia, and Zimbabwe’s Tapiwanashe Makarawu and Makanakaishe Charamba.

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Lyles, the three-time reigning world champion over what has always been his stronger event, has not lost over the distance since he had to settle for bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

His run on Wednesday, however, was reminiscent of his sluggish 100m semi-final after which he reached out to his therapist for guidance. He came out two hours later and electrified the crowd by winning the most competitive men’s 100m in Olympic history.

Lyles is looking to become the first American in four decades to win the Olympic sprint double. He is aiming for potentially four golds in Paris, in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and — if he is selected in the squad — the 4x400m relay.

Canada’s defending champion Andre de Grasse, the last man to beat Lyles in a competitive race over the distance, did not advance to the final.