The year could not have ended any better for Botswana’s golden boy Letsile Tebogo! This past Sunday, the athlete walked away with two awards at the World Athletics awards which were hosted at the Theatre Princesse Grace in Monaco.
Letsile was voted as the men’s World Athlete of the Year 2024. The decision was taken by fans in a vote carried between the 4th to the 10th of November 2024. On top of that, he was also crowned the Men’s track athlete of the year, beating Norway’s Olympic 5000m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
The awards capped off a brilliant history making season for the 21-year-old Botswana athlete. This was a season in which he proved his versatility and athleticism, breaking records along the way.
“It feels amazing to know that the fans are always there for us athletes. It was a great year,” the athlete said in his speech.
“This means a lot,” he added. “It’s not just about the team that is around you, there are a lot of fans out there that really want us to win something great for the continent. It was a real surprise to hear my name because I didn’t expect this.”
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Tebogo made history when he won the men’s 200m race. It was the first ever Olympic gold medal for Botswana, a medal 44 years in the waiting. Even better still, it was Africa’s first ever Olympic gold in the men’s 200m sprints.
His time of 19.46, which he ran in the finals, now stands as Botswana’s national as well as African continental record. It also places him as the fifth fastest man on the world all-time list for 200m. the only currently active athlete to have run better times than him are Jamaica’s Yohan Blake and America’s Noah Lyles, the man he beat to the 200m gold in Paris.
Interestingly, in the year 2024 alone, the starlet, who is now widely regarded as the future face of athletics, had ran below the 20 seconds mark on more than nine occasions. His only blemish in the event is his Diamond League loss to Kenny Bednarek, the man who came second behind him at the Olympics.
While his heroics in the 200m stand out, Tebogo made other impressive performances in the year. In what was his debut Olympics, the athlete also made the finals of the 100m. He finished sixth (6th) in what was the closest final ever, with all finalists dipping below the 10 seconds’ mark.
Still at the Olympics, Tebogo also proved his versatility in track as he anchored Botswana men’s 4x400m relay team in the finals. Here again, the youngster surprised many as he recorded a 43.03-second split in the relay. The split is bettered by only one man in history, the legendary Michael Johnson who recorded a 42.94-second split in 4x400m relay way back in 1993.
Other notable achievements for Tebogo include the world’s fastest time in 300m. This feat was achieved when he ran 30.69 seconds at the Simbine Curro Classic Shoot-Out in Pretoria.
His performances have intensified the debate around who should be considered as ‘the face of athletics.’ While he has tried to distance himself from the debate, if his upward trajectory continues, Tebogo will have nowhere to run from the debate.
