Months after mother’s passing, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo upsets USA’s Noah Lyles to win 200m gold at Paris Olympics

Letsile Tebogo beat America's Kenneth Bednarek and Noah Lyles to bring Botswana its first gold.

Months after mother’s passing, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo upsets USA’s Noah Lyles to win 200m gold at Paris Olympics

Letsile Tebogo and Noah Lyles (via SportsRation & AP)

What a night to remember for Botswana! Letsile Tebogo gave his nation a reason to celebrate as he established himself as the new 200m Olympic champion after edging out the favorites to win the race in the final round of the contest.

Letsile Tebogo beat Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek to reach the finish line in a time of 19.46 seconds as the fans at the Stade de France cheered for him. His win put an end to Lyles’ aspirations of being a double champion in athletics by winning the gold in the 100m and 200m races. Tebogo dedicated his victory to his late mother, who passed away in May earlier this year.

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He held up his spikes after his win to the camera. The shoe featured the date of birth of Seratiwa Tebogo who passed away after a bout with an illness for a long time. His mother was a positive figure in his life and was extremely supportive of his athletic career as she attended his tournaments with him.

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Letsile Tebogo was dominant at the Paris Olympics right from the beginning

The gold medalist had shown his dominance since the semifinal round. He beat Noah Lyles by a margin of a few milliseconds to upset him in the penultimate round. Tebogo was the only person to finish the 200m in the semis in under 20 seconds. The finals was expected to be a different ballgame as the American had placed second in the 100m semis and went on to win gold in the finals. The same outcome was expected here too, however, fate had different plans for Tebogo.

Letsile Tebogo (
Letsile Tebogo (via Chinadailyhk)

Shortly after the race, Noah Lyles revealed that he had tested positive for COVID and had to be taken off the track in a wheelchair. He gave a respectable showing as he finished the race behind Kenneth Bednarek to win the bronze medal. Lyles finished the race in 19.70 seconds. As good of an effort as Lyles put up, tonight, the hero is Letsile Tebogo.

It has been a rough journey for him, he arrived in Paris with the sole purpose of making his mother proud and he did just that. Tebogo bought Botswana its first-ever gold medal and recorded the fifth-fastest time on the list. With this victory, he puts Botswana on the map in the sport of athletics. A lot to come and a lot to look forward to for Letsile Tebogo.

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