Letsile Tebogo made history for Botswana at the Paris 2024 Games on Thursday, winning the first Olympic title for his nation in any sport.
Storming to the 200m title, he held off USA’s Kenny Bednarek and 100m champion Noah Lyles with an African record of 19.46 – a time that moves him to fifth on the world all-time list.
Bednarek got silver in 19.62 and Lyles bronze in 19.70 – the fastest ever time for third place in any race.
As Letsile Tebogo crossed the finish line as the new 200m Olympic champion at Paris 2024, he slapped his hand against his chest.
The rising star from Botswana stormed to victory in an African record of 19.46 seconds in front of a buoyant Stade de France crowd, denying pre-race favourite Noah Lyles the coveted sprint double.
Lyles, who won the Olympic 100m title in dramatic fashion on Sunday, was not able to live with the impressive pace of the 21-year-old and finished third behind fellow American Kenneth Bednarek (19.62) to take bronze in 19.70.
Immediately after the race, Lyles revealed, that he tested positive for COVID. The track superstar had to be helped off the track in a wheelchair.
Tebogo dedicated his country’s first ever Olympic gold to his mother Elizabeth Seratiwa, who passed away last May. He showed his spikes, displaying her date of birth into the cameras and had the initials of her name painted on his fingernails.
“She’s watching up there, and she’s really, really happy,” said an emotional Tebogo who had won 200m bronze at last year’s world championships.
The new African star is one of more than 600 IOC scholarship holders at Paris 2024.
Source: Paris Olympics
