Botswana’s wait to get a taste of a gold medal at Olympics Games came to a glorious end when the 21 year old Kanye born star Letsile Tebogo stunned the world to become the first African to win 200m finals at Olympics, subsequently registering Botswana’s gold medal at the Games. The landlocked Southern African country first participated at the Olympics Games in 1980.
Tebogo stormed ahead of his arch rival, US’ Noah Lyles to finish ahead with a new African and National Record of 19.46 seconds in front of a buoyant Stade de France crowd on Thursday night in France. Lyles was relegated to a bronze medal with a time of 19.70 seconds while his compatriot Kenneth Bednarek ram 19.62 to take silver medal.
The emotional Tebogo dedicated the nation’s first ever Olympic gold to his mother Elizabeth Seratiwa, who passed away in May 2014. He showed his spikes, displaying her date of birth into the cameras and had the initials of her name painted on his fingernails.
Since competing in the Olympics, Botswana have won three medals, Nijel Amos with Silver in 800m in 2012, Men’s 4 x 400m with Bronze in 2021 and Tebogo with Gold in 200m in 2024.
