Letsile Tebogo from Botswana sets an exclamation mark with his triumph in the 200 m, the first Olympic victory for an African in the sprint. The weakened Noah Lyles misses out on the double in third place.
In athletics, Africa is known for its strong athletes over long distances, but in sprinting, Africans have generally only played supporting roles. For Tebogo, however, there is no reason for this. He recently said that it was time for Africa to take control of sprinting on the international stage.
Tebogo followed up his words with deeds. A year ago in Budapest, he became the first African to make it onto the World Championship podium in the 100m when he won the silver medal. Now he has achieved another first in Paris, as no African has ever won the Olympic sprint title before. He is also the first ever Olympic gold medal winner from Botswana. "It means a lot to everyone, the country, the continent and my family," said Tebogo, who is anything but a showman. He had never dreamed of becoming an Olympic champion.
He did benefit from the fact that top favorite Noah Lyles was weakened by coronavirus and only finished third. However, the 21-year-old would have been difficult to beat either way. With the winning time of 19.46 seconds, he took 5th place in the all-time best list - Lyles (19.31) had only been faster once.
Tebogo's role model is, how could it be otherwise, the Jamaican Usain Bolt, who achieved the 100/200 m double three times at the Olympic Games. However, he is ahead of his idol in terms of time. Tebogo broke ten seconds in the 100 m for the first time at the age of 18, while Bolt only managed this at the age of 21.
In general, Tebogo seems to have a natural talent, as he has only been seriously involved in athletics since "2018, 2019", when he realized that he could support himself and his family with the sport. His mother was a single parent and was struggling - he also has a brother.
Tebogo was hyperactive as a child and played football. However, he wasn't as successful there, and he also found an individual sport more appealing. That's why he switched. His goal is to inspire other African sprinters with his achievements. He is well on the way to achieving this, especially as he is still a long way from reaching his peak at the age of 21. It will be interesting to see where his development and that of African sprinters will lead.
