A Befitting Honour for Tebogo for His Gold Medal Exploits at Paris Olympics
In light of the historic feat of winning Botswana’s first ever Olympic gold medal, President Mokgweetsi Masisi has declared a half-day holiday in honour of Letsile Tebogo.
Hailed a fitting tribute to the 200m Olympic champion, Batswana and residents have been given a half-day off to recognise Tebogo who became the first African to win a gold medal in the 200m sprint at the Olympics.
“The president recognises and acknowledges Letsile’s performance and achievement as markedly outstanding and deserving of the nation to pause and celebrate him in a most unique, appropriate and responsible manner that will be etched in the annals of the history of Botswana,” read a statement from government.
The 21-year-old cruised to a position 1 finish with a time of 19.46 seconds in the 200m final, ending Noah Lyles’ dominance in the event and securing his place as the fifth fastest 200m runner in history behind Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Noah Lyles and Michael Johnson.
In so doing, ‘School-boy’ set a new National Record for Botswana and a new African Record for the continent in the 200m.
Tebogo had already held the African record with a time of 19.50 seconds, but his semifinal performance of 19.96 seconds hinted at his potential to surpass it.
This comes just months after achieving a similar feat at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary where Tebogo became the first African athlete to win a 100m medal.
Dedicating the victory to his late mother, Seratiwa Tebogo, who passed away in May, Tebogo said winning the medal was just a bonus.
“For me it is not a dream come true because we came here to see how I can finish the Olympics. We just wanted the experience. But the medal is a bonus because it’s something we didn’t anticipate and see from the start of our training, and I never mentioned any medal because I didn’t want to put any pressure on myself. So, I just had to step up to ensure that everything is perfect from the start of the race to the end,” said Letsile Tebogo pointing that it will be during the 2028 Olympics that he will start showing the world what he really is capable of.
This further makes him a millionaire courtesy of Choppies Enterprises’ Olympic incentives.
For his gold medal exploits he will pocket P1 million and a further P25 000 for reaching the 100m finals whilst a house awaits him from the government as an added incentive.
On sunday Tebogo set a new national record of 9.86 seconds when finishing sixth in 100m final.
This Olympic gold adds to the already decorated cabinet which comprises two world medals – 100m silver and 200m bronze which he claimed in Budapest last year and another gold which he clinched with the men’s 4x400m relay team this year in May at the World Relay Championships.
His success in the senior ranks follows the four medals he gained at the past two editions of the World U20 Championships, where he claimed 100m gold and 200m silver in both 2021 and 2022 editions that were held in Kenya and Colombia respectively.
“It means a lot to me, Africa and everyone who has been rallying behind me when I lost my mother. I’m grateful to them because personally I thought my career was over, but the team made sure we came here with a healthier mind. My coach predicted the Africa record because when we got to the warmup area, he told me to run the final like I did at the London Diamond League last year,” added Tebogo.
