In the 100m, Letsile Tebogo dedicates his gold medal to his mother

After crossing the finish line and taking first place, the Botswanan showed the cameras a shoe bearing the date of birth of his mother, who died last May.

Letsile Tebogo won the 200m at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, August 8, and his first thought was of his mother, who died this year. At the end of the race, he presented his shoe to the camera, which had “EST 23-12-1980” written on it, his mother’s date of birth. Seratiwa Tebogo.

At the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Letsile Tebogo was the first Botswanan to reach the podium. He won silver in the 100m and bronze in the 200m. He is also the second man to run a 100m in under 10 seconds at under 20 years old. He is now his country’s first Olympic champion. He dedicates this victory to his mother, who died of cancer in May.

However, he did not approach this competition in the best conditions. “Now I’m just trying to trust myself again. It’s not related to injuries, it’s just related to (the death of) my mother.”explained the athlete last week. He explained that this event had repercussions on his fitness and therefore on his season.