Sprinter Letsile Tebogo has made history as the first athlete to win a gold medal for Botswana in the history of the Olympic Games. Tebogo also emerged as the first African to win the Olympic 200 metres. He stunned Star Noah Lyles on Thursday and denied him a sprint double at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The 2-year-old surged ahead of his competitors to set a new African record with a time of 19.46 seconds, finishing ahead of American Kenneth Bednarek, who clocked in at 19.62 seconds at a packed Stade de France.. Lyles, recently crowned the world’s fastest man by a mere five-thousandths of a second in a lightning-fast 100m final on Sunday night, couldn’t lead the race this time and matched his Tokyo bronze with a time of 19.70 seconds.
Tebogo had sounded a warning to his opponents after also posting the fastest time (19.96s) in the semifinal round for the 200m. Lyles got off to a shaky start out of the blocks in the final, allowing Bednarek to lead the pack into the turn. Tebogo then accelerated, slipping past Bednarek on the inside. Lyles attempted to pick up speed down the stretch, but couldn’t keep up with the pace.
Shortly after the victory, the African dedicated his Olympic gold medal to his mother, Seratiwa, who passed away in May after a brief illness. He held up his spikes to the camera, displaying her date of birth in her honour.
