Letsile Tebogo Is Set for Olympic Glory
Letsile Tebogo is a firm favorite at this year’s Olympics in Paris and he’s highly motivated to take on the competition.
Letsile Tebogo will be carrying Botswana’s hopes and dreams when he competes at his inaugural Olympic Games in Paris this year. Tebogo, who was raised by his mother in Kanye, some 90 km (56 miles) outside of Gaborone, grew up playing football, and only focused on sprinting when injuries got the best of him and he was always getting benched. As he turned his focus, he also realized that he could make a living out of sprinting.
Tebogo raced his first major 100m and 200m in 2019. He has been making headlines for the past three years and is heavily touted as one to watch during the 100m and 200m events in Paris. His first major victory was in 2021 when he won the 100m distance and obtained a silver medal for the 200m at the World U20 (under 20) Championships in Nairobi, Kenya. The win made him the first Motswana to achieve such a feat.
He also holds the record for the top three fastest times in junior 100m history, the fastest being when he ran 9.91 seconds at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Columbia in 2022. He’s also one of only three juniors who have run the race in under 10 seconds.
Speaking of representing his country, Tebogo said it was an honor. “It means a lot to me because it’s everybody’s dream to represent their country and do well as an athlete or any career that you choose. It’s always a great honor standing in the track knowing that you’re carrying a whole nation behind your back,” he said.
“A lot of people, I don’t think they knew Africa until we stepped up as African athletes and tried to change how everybody looks at Africa. We just wanted to change that angle and make sure that there can also be sprinters from Africa,” he added.
Last year in Budapest, Tebogo obtained a silver medal and became the first African athlete to win a 100m World Athletics Championships medal of any kind since the competition’s inception in 1983. He followed that up with a bronze medal in the 200m race in the same competition.
Earlier this year, the outstanding sprinter set a new 300m world record at the Simbine Curro Classic in South Africa, effectively breaking Wayde van Niekerk’s previous record of 30.81 seconds that had been standing since 2017. He told TimesLive following the victory that van Niekerk is “a brother” to him. “There’s no bad energy between us. Thank you for always pushing me and telling me not to belittle myself. Thank you so much, mate,” he said.
Tebogo shared his feelings about winning a silver medal by clocking 9.88 seconds at the men’s 100m race at the World Athletics Championship in 2023.
“For me, I’ve always wanted either Akani [Simbine] or Ferdinand Omanyala to do it because I’m a youngster, I could do it later on during the years. They’ve been there in the game for so long. By the grace of God, I [got to the finish line before them]. At that moment, I didn’t know. I only heard after in the press conference when they asked me how I feel. It was so amazing to see me get that medal and bring it back home to Africa,” he said.
His inspirations are track and field stars such as Tokyo 2020 Men’s 4x400m relay bronze medalist Isaac Makwala, 2012 Olympics silver medalist in the 800m Nijel Amos, and sprinter Amantle Montsho, who is the first woman to represent Botswana at the Olympics. He is also a favorite to succeed Usain Bolt, but will have to negotiate that with the American sprinter Noah Lyles, who came first at the World Athletics Championship. Commenting on the constant comparison made between him and Lyles, Tebogo said that it doesn’t motivate him in any way.
“It just brings too much attention to what you’re doing. For me, I just turn that off and then focus on the next level. The buzz is always going to be there. Every time when you compete, they’re watching and seeing how you’re doing. For me, I just block that out and focus on the preparation.”
Botswana has only won medals in two athletics events in Olympics history, and Tebogo is looking forward to adding a few more. “It really motivates and brings joy to me knowing that athletics is the sporting code that brings medals back to the country. [But] I want it to be more equal, more sporting codes to bring medals to the country [so that] we could all be celebrated,” he said.
Judging from the form he’s been displaying lately, he’s very much likely to achieve that goal.
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