Games debutant Letsile Tebogo took men’s 200m final gold for Botswana at the Summer Olympics 2024 in an African-record 19.46 seconds as 100m champion Noah Lyles finished third at the Stade de France.
Botswana’s Tebogo finished 0.16 seconds ahead of American Kenneth Bednarek, while Lyles, who had tested positive for Covid, had to be helped off the track.
A 2022 African champion at the distance, Tebogo took silver at 100m and bronze at 200m at last year’s World Championships.
LETSILE TEBOGO IS THE OLYMPIC 200M CHAMP ‼️
🇧🇼’s Letsile Tebogo powers to the gold with a 19.46 AREA RECORD 🤯#Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/3ReC9PT90o
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 8, 2024
📰 Table Of Contents
Letsile Tebogo: Mother inspires win
The 21-year-old dedicated the win, which was Africa’s first Olympic gold at the distance, to his mother, Seratiwa, who died in May.
Tebogo wore the date of birth of his mother – a devoted fan of his astounding sprint career – on his spikes and had a tribute to her on his nails.
He had set a new national record for Botswana by posting 9.86 on his way to a sixth-placed finish in a thrillingly close 100m final on Sunday.
Letsile Tebogo dedicates his Olympic GOLD medal to his lovely mother Seratiwa Tebogo who passed away in May.
His nails have her initials. She watched him last year in Budapest become the first African man to win a medal in the 100m at the World Athletics Championships. He’s 21. pic.twitter.com/Fp6HCQPKkQ
— Usher Komugisha (@UsherKomugisha) August 8, 2024
Lyles races with Covid
Lyles, who won that race, said he had woken up early on Thursday morning “feeling really horrible” but had not considered withdrawing from the 200m final.
“I knew it was more than just feeling sore from the 100m,” he told NBC. “I woke up the doctors, we tested and unfortunately it came up that I was positive for Covid.”
“My first thought was not to panic. I was thinking that I’ve been in worse situations; I’ve run with worse conditions, I felt. We just took it day by day, trying to hydrate as much as possible and quarantining.
“We were just trying to quarantine as much as possible and stay away… [wanting] to give it my all. If I wasn’t to make it, somebody would have definitely taken my spot. That would have been my sign that I didn’t deserve to be in the final.”
When he was asked whether he would take part in the 4x100m decider on Friday, Lyles said he had not made a decision. “I’m feeling more on the side of letting Team USA do their thing,” he added.
“They’ve proven with great certainty that they can handle it without me. If that’s the case, coming off of today, then I’m perfectly fine saying ‘hey, you guys go and do your thing. You guys have more than enough speed to handle it and go and get the gold medal.'”
