Introduction
Letsile Tebogo (born 7 June 2003) is a sprinter from Botswana, thus a Motswana. He 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 5 days later. Tebogo won the gold medal in the 100 metres and a silver in the 200 metres at both the 2021 and 2022 World Athletics Under-20 Championships. In 2021, Tebogo became the first Botswana athlete to claim the 100m title at any World Championships level. He is the 200m 2022 African champion, becoming the youngest winner of this title in competition history.
Tebogo held the world U20 record in the 100m between April 2022 and July 2023. He was the first man from Botswana to break the 10-second barrier.
Career
Letsile Tebogo gained his first international experience at the age of 17 at the 2021 World Athletics Relays held in May in Chorzów, Poland. In August, he competed at the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, winning the 100 metres and finishing second in the 200 metres.
On 19 February 2022, the 18-year-old set a new national record in the 100m at the Botswana Athletics Championships with a time of 10.08 seconds. 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. 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, Tebogo broke his own record again, clocking a 9.91 second performance in the final of the World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia. At the end of the race he celebrated early, drawing comparisons to 100m and 200m world records holder Usain Bolt.
Achievements
Personal bests
- 100 metres: 9.88 (0.0m/s, Budapest 2023) NR
- 200 metres: 19.50 (+1.6m/s, London 2023) NR AR
- 300 metres: 31.52 (Pretoria, 2023)
- 400 metres: 44.75 (Lignano Sabbiadoro, 2023)
- 200 metres U20: 19.96 (-1.0m/s, Cali 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 ) | |
| 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 |