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Letsile Tebogo

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Letsile Tebogo
Tebogo at the 2023 World Athletics Championships
Personal information
NicknameSchool-boy
NationalityBotswana
Born (2003-06-07) 7 June 2003 (age 21)
Kanye, Botswana[1]
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight77 kg (170 lb)[2]
Sport
Country Botswana
SportAthletics
EventSprints
TeamNike
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Botswana
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 200 m
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris 4×400 m relay
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2023 Budapest 100 m
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Budapest 200 m
World Relays
Gold medal – first place 2024 Nassau 4×400 m relay
African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Saint Pierre 200 m
World U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Nairobi 100 m
Gold medal – first place 2022 Cali 100 m
Silver medal – second place 2021 Nairobi 200 m
Silver medal – second place 2022 Cali 200 m

Letsile Tebogo (Tswana pronunciation: [lɪt͡silɛ tɛbʊχo]; born 7 June 2003)[3] is a sprinter from Botswana. He won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 200 metres event, with his win earning the first-ever Olympic gold medal for Botswana. He also won the silver medal at the 2023 World Championships in the 100 m and followed it up with a bronze medal in the 200 m five days later.[4]

Tebogo won in the 100 metres and placed second in the 200 metres at both the 2021 and 2022 World Athletics Under-20 Championships. In 2021, he became the first Botswana athlete to claim the 100m title at any World Championships level. He is the 200m 2022 African champion, becoming the youngest winner of this title in competition history. He broke the 300m world best, running a time of 30.69 seconds on February 17, 2024 at altitude in Pretoria, South Africa.[5]

Tebogo has held the world U20 record in the 100m since April 2022. He was the first man from Botswana to break the 10-second barrier.

Career

Letsile Tebogo gained his first international experience at the age of 17 at the 2021 World Athletics Relays held in May in Chorzów, Poland.[3] In August, he competed at the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, winning the 100 metres and finishing second in the 200 metres.[3]

On 19 February 2022, the 18-year-old set a new national record in the 100m at the Botswana Athletics Championships with a time of 10.08 seconds.[6] Two months later, he became the first man from Botswana to break the 10-second barrier at the event as he clocked a time of 9.96 seconds at the Gaborone International Meet, setting a new world under-20 record.[7] On 15 July, he further improved his record in his debut race at the World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, with a time of 9.94 seconds. The following month, he broke his own record again, clocking a 9.91 second performance in the final of the World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.[8][9] At the end of the race he celebrated early, drawing comparisons to 100m and 200m world records holder Usain Bolt.[10]

On 8 August 2024, Tebogo won the 200m final at the Paris Olympics, earning the first-ever gold medal for Botswana with a time of 19.46s.[3][11] His victory led to a holiday being declared in Botswana to celebrate his feat on the afternoon of 9 August.[12] The government of Botswana also awarded him two houses in recognition of his victory.[13]

In September 2024, Tebogo became the first male winner of the newly inaugurated Jesse Owens Rising Star Award at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussel. The 21-year-old's 19.80 was the best performance of the final by a male athlete aged 23 or under, even though he did not win the final.[14]

In October 2024, Olympic champion Tebogo recieved the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) award for best male athletes of Paris 2024. His 200 m victory in Paris was historic as it represented the first in Olympic history for Botswana.[15]

In December 2024, Tebogo was named World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year.[16] At the same event, Tebogo was named the Male Track Athlete of the Year winner ahead of Norway's 5000m gold medallist Jakob Ingebrigtsen.[17]

Achievements

Personal bests

Distance Time (s) Wind Location Date Notes
100 meters 9.86 +1.0 m/s Paris, France August 4, 2024 NR
200 meters 19.46 Paris, France August 8, 2024 NR, AR
300 meters 30.69 Pretoria, South Africa February 17, 2024 WB
400 meters 44.29 Pretoria, South Africa March 18, 2024
Youth and junior achievements
100 meters 9.91 +0.8 m/s Cali, Colombia August 2, 2022 World under-20 record
200 meters 19.96 -1.0 m/s Cali, Colombia August 4, 2022 AU20R

International competitions

Representing  Botswana
Year Competition Venue Position Event Time Notes
2021 World Relays Chorzów, Poland 13th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 39.55 SB
World U20 Championships Nairobi, Kenya 1st 100 m 10.19
2nd 200 m 20.38
2022 African Championships Saint Pierre, Mauritius 1st 200 m 20.26
– (f) 4 × 100 m relay DQ
World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 16th (sf) 100 m 10.17 (h: WU20R NR [note 1])
World U20 Championships Cali, Colombia 1st 100 m 9.91 CR WU20R NR
2nd 200 m 19.96 CR
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd 100 m 9.88 NR
3rd 200 m 19.81
2024 World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 1st 4 × 400 m relay 2:59.11
Olympic Games Paris, France 6th 100 m 9.86 NR
1st 200 m 19.46 AR
2nd 4 × 400 m relay 2:54.53 AR

Circuit wins and titles

See also

Notes

  1. ^ In the heats Tebogo set a world under-20 and national record with a time of 9.94 seconds.

References

  1. ^ a b "TEBOGO Letsile". Paris 2024 Olympics. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Tilastopaja Oy Track and field statistics | Letsile Tebogo". Tilastopaja.eu. Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Letsile TEBOGO – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 18 April 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  4. ^ "USA's Noah Lyles wins 100m world title as Hughes seals bronze for GB". The Guardian. The Associated Press. 20 August 2023. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Tebogo breaks world 300m best with 30.69 in Pretoria | REPORT | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Archived from the original on 20 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  6. ^ Kolantsho, Calistus (21 February 2022). "Letsile sets new 100m record". Mmegi Online. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  7. ^ "World U20 sprint records fall as Knighton runs 19.49 and Tebogo clocks 9.96". World Athletics. 30 April 2022. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Tebogo runs 9.91 world U20 record to claim 100m crown in Cali". World Athletics. 3 August 2022. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Spotlight on Rising Stars: Kerrica Hill and Letsile Tebogo". World Athletics. 10 November 2022. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Tebogo draws Bolt comparisons after showboating to junior record". Reuters. 3 August 2022. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Tebogo wins stunning 200m as Covid-hit Lyles denied". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Botswana's people get the afternoon off work to celebrate a first gold at the Olympics". Associated Press. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Flags and dancing as Botswana welcomes home Olympic gold". France 24. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Jesse Owens Rising Star Award: Letsile Tebogo". IDL Diamond League. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  15. ^ "Julien Alfred and Letsile Tebogo lead Association of National Olympic Committees 2024 awards". Olympics.com. 30 October 2024.
  16. ^ "Hassan and Tebogo named World Athletes of the Year". World Athletics. 1 December 2024. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  17. ^ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
Olympic Games
Preceded by Flag bearer for  Botswana
Paris 2024
with
Maxine Egner 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Records
Preceded by Men's under-20 world record holder
100 meters
30 April 2022 – present 		Incumbent
Preceded by World best performances, 300 metres
17 February 2024 – present 		Incumbent
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