The men’s 200m final was shocking as Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo blazed through the line in 19.46 seconds, the fourth-fastest time ever, to claim Olympic gold.
It was an amazing feat of Tebogo, who not only set a new African 200m record but also won the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal.
Tebogo was congratulated first by second-place finisher Kenny Bednareck, who took silver with a time of 19.62, giving Bednareck his second 200m silver in back-to-back Games.
The race was even more personal for Tebogo because he lost his mother last May. After the race, he dedicated his gold medal to her while displaying his spikes which he had written her birthdate on.
“I believe she could be one of the happiest people on the planet,” said an emotional Tebogo. “Because she believed in me and I had so much doubt for myself.”
The 21-year-old champion also paid respect to Africa and all on the continent who supported him.
“It means a lot to the African continent because now they see Africa as a sprinting home,” said Tebogo, who is now the first sprinter from Africa to claim gold in the men’s 200m. “So we just had to make sure that the message is loud and clear.”
“It didn’t take so long, they were just waiting for me to step up,” he added.
Tebogo might be unfamiliar to most, but he’s no overnight success.
At the age of 18, he ran a 9.96 in the 100m, becoming the second U-20 athlete in history to break 10 seconds. At the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, he took silver in the 100m, becoming Africa’s first-ever run to make the 100m podium at the Worlds.
And while he took sixth in the 100m at this year’s Olympics, he won a historic gold medal in a race where many didn’t even view him as a podium threat.
Initially, all of the attention was given to Noah Lyles for placing third in his best event, which ended his chance of becoming the first U.S. athlete to double-double in the 100m and 200m since Carl Lewis in 1984.
He received even more attention as he remained down on the track after the race and had to be taken out by wheelchair. As we learned shortly afterward, the 100m champion had tested positive for Covid but still chose to run in the race.
Since then, more attention has been given to Lyles for running with Covid instead of rightfully celebrating Tebogo’s history-making victory.
Regardless of whether it was right for Lyles to compete, fans should be giving Tebogo his props for doing what no African runner has done before.
In the press conference, he was asked about his place in the sport and his response expressed both his frustration with the reaction to his victory and the truth about track.
“I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or loud person like Noah,” said Tebogo.
Debates are swirling about what he meant, so it’s not entirely clear whether he was taking a dig at Lyles, stating the truth that quiet yet successful athletes in track don’t get the proper shine, or both.
But what is crystal clear is that Letsile Tebogo deserves all of the shine for winning 200m gold.
