14 Aug 2024

It took Letsile Tebogo to compete in only three races this season to be able to deliver the first 200m Olympics gold medal for the country. 

Tebogo made history by becoming the first man in Africa to win a gold medal in 200m with an African Record of 19.46. 

In the run up to the Olympics, he had his first 200m race in South Africa in March during the ASA Athletics Grand Prix (WACT Challenger) and clocked a world-leading time of 19.94.

Then, he powered to a Season’s Best (SB) of 19.71 finishing in second after American sprinter, Courtney Lindsey with a World Lead of 19.71 in Kenya in April. 

The third and last race was the Monaco Diamond League, where he and his team focused on perfecting running on a curve and he finished in position one with a time of 19.87. 

In an interview on Tuesday  Tebogo said since they opened their season early this year, they had been working very hard on running the bend. 

“So when we managed to ace the bend in Monaco, we knew that winning a 200m medal was inevitable at the Olympics if we were to execute what we did,” he said. 

He said running at the Monaco Diamond League was a turning point for him and his coach because they then realised that it was possible to win a medal at the Olympics. 

“We saw the potential, but we did not mind the colour. We had the game plan and everything was perfectly executed,” he said. 

On his future plans, he said he and his team had set the goal for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, adding that the Paris results had also motivated them to move forward. 

On his track nemesis, America’s Noah Lyles, he said ‘There is not bad blood between Noah and I. We are friends on track and outside track. He shares a lot with me and we basically push each other, because when we share the track he knows he does not have to be comfortable,” he said. 

Tebogo said they had a very healthy rivalry, which over time, would continue to produce good results and make the track interesting. 

Tebogo thanked Batswana, and the rest of the world for the support.

He said was even more motivated by the love he received not only from Batswana, but also from Africa and the rest of the world. Ends