Botswana’s first Olympic gold medallist reflects on his journey and his role in shaping young athletes. Source image: apnews
(The Post News)- Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo has opened up about how athletics kept him from a life of crime and shaped him into the athlete he is today. The 21-year-old, who made history in Paris last year by securing Botswana’s first-ever Olympic gold medal, is now using his platform to inspire the next generation through the Kids Athletics programme.
Tebogo admitted that without sport, his path could have been drastically different. Growing up in a neighbourhood where crime was prevalent, he acknowledged that athletics gave him structure and purpose. “Sport changed my life. If not for it, I could have gone down the wrong path,” he shared in a video conference with reporters. He explained that training kept him occupied and too exhausted to get involved in negative activities, which was a common survival strategy in his community.
Recognising the impact athletics had on his own life, Tebogo has encouraged his friends to find similar escapes. Some have since taken up football, and they often reflect on how different their lives might have been had they not chosen sport.
Now a global ambassador for the Kids Athletics initiative, Tebogo recently took part in a relay event with around 1,000 children in Botswana—on the same grounds where he once trained as a boy. The programme, backed by World Athletics, aims to introduce children aged four to 14 to athletics through fun and engaging activities.
Interestingly, Tebogo’s journey into athletics wasn’t intentional. He initially favoured football, playing as a left-winger, but was persuaded by his primary school teachers to give athletics a try. At the time, athletics wasn’t widely popular in Botswana, but he decided to see where it could take him. That decision led to his historic Olympic victory, where he set an African record of 19.46 seconds, outrunning the USA’s Kenny Bednarek and 100m champion Noah Lyles.
Following his Paris triumph, Tebogo made headlines when he called Lyles “arrogant,” suggesting the cameras were more drawn to the outspoken American sprinter. However, he later clarified his remarks, stating that while some athletes embrace showmanship to promote the sport, he prefers to stay reserved. “On the track, it’s all business. Off it, we can be friends. Lyles sells the sport well, but that’s just not my style,” he explained.
Tebogo recently competed in a rare 400m race in Melbourne, finishing second. As he fine-tunes his speed, he is set to race in a 200m event in Botswana next week before heading to the Diamond League meetings in Xiamen and Shanghai on April 26 and May 3. Looking ahead to the World Championships in Tokyo this September, he knows his rivals will be eager to challenge him. “Everyone on that lineup is competition. You can’t count anyone out based on past performances,” he said.
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