Footballer to Trackstar: 5 facts about Botswana’s Olympic gold medalist Letsile Tebogo

Botswana’s prodigy athlete, Letsile Tebogo, emerged as the breakout star of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with his historic win in the 200m finals.

The 18-year-old athlete became a household name in athletics after defeating US sprinter Noah Lyles in the 200m race, stunning the global audience.

At the 2021 World Athletics U-20 Championship, Tebogo became the first athlete from Botswana to win gold in the 100m and also secure silver in the 200m.

In this piece, GhanaWeb Sports presents some facts about Tebogo.

Footballer to Trackstar:

According to Olympics.com, Tebogo was already a talented footballer at the age of six and was encouraged by his teachers to pursue the sport.

However, due to injury concerns hindering his progress, he decided to focus on athletics.

"I used to run past people and win medals. I also played football. Every time I went to play football, I was being benched. [This] made me frustrated...and prompted my decision to go back to athletics as I saw [that] I am able to put food on the table for my family from that,” he explained his motivation to focus on track instead of football in an interview with Runblogrun.com, as quoted by Olympics.com.

It was also noted that in 2016, during the Primary Schools Sport Association Championships, he won the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay, leading to his call-up to the national team.

Tebogo has been sprinting for 3 years:

Since 2016, Tebogo has continued running until 2019, when he realized his full potential and participated in his first professional athletics meet, clocking 10.68s in the 100m and 21.12s in the 200m race.

In 2021, Tebogo set a record at the Botswana National Athletics Championship in Oregon, setting a national record of 10.08s in the 100m race.

"For a while, I didn’t pay more attention to athletics until about 2018–2019, when I realized I could go professional with it. The motivation to get into athletics came from watching the big guys like Isaac Mukwala, Karabo Sibanda, and Nijel Amos. 

"However, I just really wanted some change in the country, so I had to do something different from the big guys, that’s why I opted to compete in the 100m and 200m," explained Tebogo, as quoted by Olympics.com.

The athlete announced himself on the global stage during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where he won the 200m and helped his team secure silver in the 4x100m relay event.

Favorite event is the 200m:

Tebogo enjoys the 200m race and seems to thrive in it during various athletics meets.

He has also affirmed that he excels in the 200m race and finds it easier and more thrilling during events.

Tebogo makes history:

Tebogo was the first athlete from Botswana to compete in the 100m event on the global stage to showcase his talent.

He is also the second sprinter to break the 10-second barrier, after American Trayvon Bromell.

He followed in the footsteps of London 2012 Olympics silver medalist Nijel Amos to win a gold medal in the World U20 Athletics Championship.

Tebogo’s Role Model is Usain Bolt:

The Botswana athlete expressed that legendary Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt is the best in the world and someone he looks up to, Olympics.com reported.

After Bolt’s heroics, Tebogo referred to him as the “Legendary Usain Bolt” and looks forward to replicating or breaking his records in the future.

“It’s time for Africa to take charge over the sprints and every event,” he said in the interview with Runblogrun.com, as quoted by Olympics.com.

SB/OGB