Sprints sensation Tebogo promises a 'changed man' as new season gets underway

A season of historic achievement by 21-year-old Letsile Tebogo was richly acknowledged in Monaco on Sunday 1 December as he was announced as the men’s World Athlete of the Year at the World Athletics Awards 2024.

Tebogo, who also accepted an award as men’s track athlete of the year, earned Botswana’s first Olympic gold medal in any sport as he won the 200m at the Paris Games in an African record of 19.46.

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The next day he helped Botswana reach the men’s 4x400m final, where his extraordinary final leg earned silver behind the United States in an African record of 2:54.53. His split of 43.04 is among the fastest ever recorded.

Tebogo’s Paris showing – which was marked with a national holiday – had begun with a sixth-place finish in the 100m final in a national record of 9.86.

Speaking on stage at the Theatre Princesse Grace in Monaco, Tebogo – who had dedicated his Olympic performances to his late mother Seratiwa – said: “It feels good to know that what you have been putting in throughout the year is now giving you some of the fruits that you have been waiting for. I’m grateful for the team that was around me.”

Looking ahead, he added: “I believe the next year is going to be a different Letsile; he’s going to be a changed and a mature one.”

Tebogo set two national records in the 100m – 9.88 in London and 9.86 in the Olympic final. He also set a world 300m best of 30.69 in Pretoria.

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When asked how he sees his career progressing and what distances it would involve going forward, he says there are no limits.

“I think for now it will be all of them. I don’t want to limit myself into a particular event. I just want to leave it open so that I know when I am training that they can use me again in the 400m, not just be the sprints guy," he added.

By World Athletics