01 Sep 2024

There are more races lined up for Botswana sprint sensation Letsile Tebogo before he could close his season.

Tebogo’s  coach Kebonyemodisa Mosimanyane said in an interview that after performing well in the 100 metres race at Rome Diamond League, where he finished in position one with a time of 9.87 on Friday, they were still left with some races.

The coach said this coming Thursday they would compete at the Weltklasse Zurich Diamond League meeting where they would line up in the 200 metres.

He said on September 8, Tebogo would be competing at the Brescia Grand Prix 2024 in Italy.

“All these races will be used to fine tune preparations for the Brussels Diamond League 200m final on September 14,” he said.

Talking about the Rome Diamond League performance, Mosimanyane said he was happy with Tebogo’s performance because it served its purpose, which was to sharpen the speed in preparation for the Diamond League final.

He said the position one was just a cherry on top, given that they only wanted the execution to be good, adding that it came out quite well.

“Good reaction, good block clearance, good drive and transition and a decent top end, and I must say I am happy,” he said.

Meanwhile during the race, the 200 metres Olympic champion was in his good element, from the track celebration and a good post-race interview with the media.

Tebogo who met with head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday was poised for a greater performance, normally during the athletes introduction he is always calm, but not this time as he showed some good gesture to say ‘bring it on.’ As the starting gun went off, Tebogo kicked the blocks, angled his torso forward and in the last 50 metres it was clear that he was aiming for a win.

 It did not come as a surprise as he eased off in the last 15 metres and looked across at his competitors, as the clock stopped in 9.87.

The commentator could not hold his excitement as he said “But he said I am not the new face of sprinting, I am really not! But everything he is doing at the moment, is turning to gold, he took the title in Paris over the 200 metres , he came back and won in Lausanne, and he has done it here in the 100, he is a brilliant character, he is a breath of fresh air for the sport, and of course he got a hero’s welcome back in Botswana.”

He was followed by Americans Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley, with 9.92 and 9.95 respectively.

Tebogo told the media that he was happy with his performance, given that he did not train for the 100 metres after the Olympic finals.

“So I just wanted to get the speed for 200 metres Diamond League final, which will take place in Brussels,” he said. Tebogo said despite having a mental break down few hours before the race, as he missed his mother, he managed to deal with that and focused on the race.

“I meditated before the race, and I imagined how the race will be, but I know with my perfect start I can beat everyone, and the celebration in the last 10 metres was me having fun,” he said. In 400 metres race Bayapo Ndori finished in position four with a time of 44.56, while Collen Kebinatshipi clocked 45.14 to finish in position eight. Ends