The Botsuano Letsile Tebogo, 200 -meter Olympic champion in the Paris 2024 Games, acknowledged that at birth in an environment with few resources the sport has given him “many opportunities to be able to fulfill dreams” and admitted that without practicing it “it would probably be a criminal.”
Tebogo made history in the past Paris games being the first African to achieve an Olympic gold in 200 meters ahead of the American Kenneth Bedarek and Noah Lyles, bronze with 19.70 despite running with Covid.
The 21 -year -old Botsuano athlete is the new ambassador of an athletics program (Kids Athletics) that is a global initiative that uses the power of sport to inspire children around the world to be more active.
“In the neighborhood where I grew up there were many criminals and had to survive. Thanks to the sport I understood that I should go to school and as with the training you are tired, you no longer have time to wander the streets or enter the house of bad people, “said Tebogo, in a talk with several international media organized by World Athletics.
“At first I liked to play football as a left extreme but my school teachers encouraged me to do athletics. Sport helped me a lot because I think without sport it would probably be today a criminal“He confessed.
“Athletics has given me many opportunities and I want to inspire young people to believe in themselves, dream big and enjoy the sport. The child athletics program seeks to make athletics accessible and fun, and I feel honored to be part of this initiative to help form future champions, both on the track,” he said.
For some years, Tebogo became the sensation of athletics, a sport that sought Buenos Aires. Before achieving gold, he had already won the gold in World Cup Sub 20 of Nairobi and had been second in 200. In addition, in February 2022, he was the first born in Botswana to break the 10 seconds barrier with 9.96.
It was an unstoppable missile, each competition managed to beat their own record: 9.94 at the Oregon World Cup, 9.91 in August in Cali where they already began comparing it to the legend, Usain Bolt.
🆕 WORLD RECORD U20
🇧🇼 Tebogo wins the 100m gold in the U20 World Cup with 9️⃣, 9️⃣1️⃣ ”hesitating their rivals in the last third test
🚀 The new feeling of world athletics is already here pic.twitter.com/aLRVIS5GNA
– José Manuel Amorós (@amorroscuatro) August 2, 2022
On August 8, 2024, the day he won in Paris, Tebogo showed his shoe with a date: 23-1980, on his mother’s birthday that had died a while earlier.
His victory caused a revolution in Botswana where they decreed national holiday and gave him two houses to reward the new hero of the African country.
The president of World Athletics, the British Sebastian Coe, was “happy that a talent like Letsile Tebogo arises in the competition structures” of the international federation he presides.
“It shows the way to other young athletes with talent. Letsile is sure of himself, he is determined and humble and is already inspiring a whole generation of young athletes and children with potential who learn to integrate the sport in their day to day,” he said.
The collaboration will imply that Tebogo participates on May 7 in an event on the occasion of the Child Athletics Day. This year’s theme, called ‘Relay around the world’, is inspired by the next World Cups in Guanzhou (China) on May 10 and 11.
The objective is to have “the largest and most inclusive child participation to date, designed to inspire the athletes of the future and encourage children to move everywhere.”
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