08 Aug 2024

Botswana’s finest athlete, Letsile Tebogo, has delivered the first gold not only for Botswana but for Africa.

Tebogo won the 200m final at the Paris Olympic Games with an Area Record and a Personal Best time of 19.46.

It was a sweet victory because he beat his track nemesis USA’s Noah Lyles who finished third with 19.70, while his countryman Kenneth Bednarek clocked 19.62 in second position.

Tebogo’s feat is not only sweet to Botswana but to the continent given that no African has ever won a gold medal in sprint events at the Olympics.

However, the only African male athlete who has ever ascended to the podium,  was Namibian Frankie Fredericks with Olympic silver medals in 1992 and 1996.

In 2023 at the World Championships in Budapest, Tebogo became the first African man to win a world championship medal in the 100m, finishing second after Noah Lyles.

Tebogo’s journey to greatness was written in the stars, and it was evident that come what may, he will salvage a medal for Botswana and Africa.

He started in heat three where he finished in position one, and  clocked a time of 20.10 to proceed to the semi-finals, where he beat Lyles.

The footballer, who hung his boots for spikes, becoming a household name on track, felt it in his blood that a medal was coming home. Some hours before the final, he updated a very loaded message on his official Facebook page.

 “Ladies and Gentlemen! Your Olympics Debutant. This moment is a culmination of countless hours of hard work, dedication and unyielding passion. From the humble beginnings to the grand arena, the journey inspires us all to chase our dreams one step at a time,” he said.

During the final, as soon as the starting gun went off, he exploded from the blocks and attacked the first 40 metres, approached the curve like a spit fire and on the back straight it was clear that a medal was inevitable.

Tebogo was wearing personalised spikes engraved with his mother’s birthdate: 23.12.1980. Ends