BRUSSELS, Belgium: Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo says he feels “energised” as he seeks to bring the curtain down on his breakthrough season with victory in the Diamond League finals in Brussels on Saturday.
The Botswana sprinter bounced back from the death of his mother in May to claim a stunning gold at the Paris Games ahead of, amongst others, Covid-hit favourite Noah Lyles. He won in an African record of 19.46 seconds, a time that took him to fifth on the all-time list. Tebogo also became the first African to win the Olympic 200 metres.
He had announced himself on the global stage with a 100m silver and 200m bronze at the 2023 world championships in Budapest. Since the Olympics in the French capital, the 21-year-old has won the 200m at Diamond League events in Lausanne, Silesia, Rome and Zurich, the latter in an outstanding 19.55sec in wet and cold conditions.
Tebogo insisted at a pre-finals press conference on Thursday that he was just one of a raft of new faces jostling for prominence in building a new post-Usain Bolt era. “People always have their own opinions about how you look at one particular person,” Tebogo said.
“For me, I believe there´s a new generation coming up. “I believe we´ve passed that (Bolt) era but we didn´t yet surpass his goals in track and field.” Bolt´s former Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake holds the stadium record of 19.26sec in Brussels, set in 2011, something Tebogo said could be in danger.
“Looking at what I did in Zurich, no one thought that 19.5 was possible looking at the weather conditions,” he said. “I believe looking at the competition also, the stadium record is possible, but I don´t want to put myself under that pressure of chasing that stadium record.
“If it comes, then it comes. All I can say is I feel fresh after all the runs I´ve been through and feel more energised than anything else.”
- ´Two Africans v the world´ -
The 200m showdown at the two-day finals, which draw a close to the elite 14-meet Diamond League circuit, also features Liberia´s Joseph Fahnbulleh, alongside a trio of strong Americans in Kenny Bednarek, Erriyon Knighton and Fred Kerley.
“It´s two Africans against the rest of the world,” maintained Tebogo, who also finished sixth in the 100m final in Paris in 9.86sec. “I believe it´s going to be a good race! “It´s a good thing to end the season with that winning streak, with that Olympic gold and Diamond League trophy.”
Tebogo returned to a rapturous welcome in Gaborone after his Paris gold, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi greeting the sprinter and other Olympic athletes after he had declared an impromptu half-day holiday.