Letsile Tebogo
Sprinter from Botswana (born 2003)
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Letsile Tebogo (Tswana pronunciation: [lɪt͡silɛ tɛbʊχo]; born 7 June 2003)[3] is a Motswana sprinter. He won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 200 metres event, with his win earning the first-ever Olympic gold medal for Botswana. He also won the silver medal at the 2023 World Championships in the 100 m and followed it up with a bronze medal in the 200 m five days later.[4]
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Tebogo at the 2024 African Championships in Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nickname | School-boy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Botswana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 7 June 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 77 kg (170 lb)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Botswana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Sprints | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | Nike | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal bests | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Tebogo won in the 100 metres and placed second in the 200 metres at both the 2021 and 2022 World Athletics Under-20 Championships. In 2021, he became the first Botswana athlete to claim the 100 m title at any World Championships level. He is the 200 m 2022 African champion, becoming the youngest winner of this title in competition history. He broke the 300 m world best, running a time of 30.69 seconds on February 17, 2024 at altitude in Pretoria, South Africa.[5]
Tebogo has held the world U20 record in the 100 m since April 2022. He was the first man from Botswana to break the 10-second barrier.
Career
Tebogo gained his first international experience at the age of 17 at the 2021 World Athletics Relays held in May in Chorzów, Poland.[3] In August, he competed at the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, winning the 100 metres and finishing second in the 200 metres.[3]
On 19 February 2022, the 18-year-old set a new national record in the 100 m at the Botswana Athletics Championships with a time of 10.08 seconds.[6] Two months later, he became the first man from Botswana to break the 10-second barrier at the event as he clocked a time of 9.96 seconds at the Gaborone International Meet, setting a new world under-20 record.[7] On 15 July, he further improved his record in his debut race at the World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, with a time of 9.94 seconds. The following month, he broke his own record again, clocking a 9.91 second performance in the final of the World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.[8][9] At the end of the race he celebrated early, drawing comparisons to 100 m and 200 m world records holder Usain Bolt.[10]
On 8 August 2024, Tebogo won the 200 m final at the Paris Olympics, earning the first-ever gold medal for Botswana with a time of 19.46s.[3][11] His victory led to a holiday being declared in Botswana to celebrate his feat on the afternoon of 9 August.[12] The government of Botswana also awarded him two houses in recognition of his victory.[13]
In September 2024, Tebogo became the first male winner of the newly inaugurated Jesse Owens Rising Star Award at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussel. The 21-year-old's 19.80 was the best performance of the final by a male athlete aged 23 or under, even though he did not win the final.[14]
In October 2024, for his historic achievement as an Olympic champion for Botswana, Tebogo received the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) award for best male athlete of Paris 2024.[15]
In December 2024, Tebogo was named World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year.[16]
During the Botswana floods that took place in February 2025, Tebogo was praised for pulling cars out of floods in Gaborone.[17][18]
In April 2025, Olympic champion Tebogo was appointed as the Kids’ Athletics Day 2025 ambassador by World Athletics.[19]
At the 2025 World Athletics Championships, held in Tokyo, Japan, Tebogo was disqualified from the 100 metres final, after a false start.[20]
He then qualified for the 200 m final, where he finished fourth behind Noah Lyles, Kenneth Bednarek, and Bryan Levell.
On September 21, running as the second leg, he contributed to Botswana's victory in the 4 × 400 m relay, which won in 2 min 57 s 76.
Achievements
Personal bests
| Distance | Time (s) | Wind | Location | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 meters | 9.86 | +1.0 m/s | Paris, France | August 4, 2024 | NR |
| 200 meters | 19.46 | +0.4 m/s | Paris, France | August 8, 2024 | NR, AR |
| 300 meters | 30.69 | Pretoria, South Africa | February 17, 2024 | WB | |
| 400 meters | 44.29 | Pretoria, South Africa | March 18, 2024 | ||
| Youth and junior achievements | |||||
| 100 meters | 9.91 | +0.8 m/s | Cali, Colombia | August 2, 2022 | World under-20 record |
| 200 meters | 19.96 | -1.0 m/s | Cali, Colombia | August 4, 2022 | AU20R |
International competitions
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | World Relays | Chorzów, Poland | 13th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 39.55 | SB |
| World U20 Championships | Nairobi, Kenya | 1st | 100 m | 10.19 | ||
| 2nd | 200 m | 20.38 | ||||
| 2022 | African Championships | Saint Pierre, Mauritius | 1st | 200 m | 20.26 | |
| – (f) | 4 × 100 m relay | DQ | ||||
| World Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 16th (sf) | 100 m | 10.17 | (h: WU20R NR [note 1]) | |
| World U20 Championships | Cali, Colombia | 1st | 100 m | 9.91 | CR WU20R NR | |
| 2nd | 200 m | 19.96 | CR | |||
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 2nd | 100 m | 9.88 | NR |
| 3rd | 200 m | 19.81 | ||||
| 2024 | World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:59.11 | |
| Olympic Games | Paris, France | 6th | 100 m | 9.86 | NR | |
| 1st | 200 m | 19.46 | AR | |||
| 2nd | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:54.53 | AR | |||
| 2025 | World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | — | 100 m | DQ | False start |
| 4th | 200 m | 19.65 | ||||
| 1st | 4 × 400 m | 2:57.76 | ||||
| 2026 | World Relays | Gaborone, Botswana | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:54.47 | AR[21] |
| 6th | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.35 | (h: NR 37.97)[note 2][22] |
Circuit wins and titles
- 2023: Lausanne Athletissima (200 m)
- 2024: Monaco Herculis (200 m), Lausanne Athletissima (200 m), Kamila Skolimowska Memorial (200 m), Rome Golden Gala (100 m), Zürich Weltklasse (200 m)
- 2025: Doha Diamond League (200 m), Prefontaine Classic (200 m)
- 2023: Botswana Golden Grand Prix (200 m)
- 2024: Grand Prix Lombardia Brescia (200 m)
- 2025: Botswana Golden Grand Prix (200 m)
