Letsile Tebogo: The new face of Africa's sprinting revolution
Whether Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo likes it or not, he is the face of Africa’s sprinting revolution after winning the continent’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the men's 200m.
The groundwork had been laid decades before Tebogo's track athletics success at Paris 2024, by Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks, considered the father of African sprinting.
Fredericks was a dominant force back in his day, winning back-to-back 100-200m double silver medal hauls at the Olympics in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996.
No African sprinter had reached those kinds of heights before Fredericks. That is until South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk burst onto the scene, winning consecutive 400m world titles in 2015 and 2017, and claiming world silver at the 200m.
Van Niekerk struck a blow for sprinting on the continent when he stormed to a world record of 43.03 seconds to become only the second African athlete to win the Olympic 400m title in Rio 2016. Nearly 100 years earlier, Bevil Rudd won gold at the 1920 Olympic Games.
Africa is increasingly becoming part of a conversation that has been dominated by athletes from the United States and Jamaica.
A quiet revolution
In the 100m, one would have to go even further back in history to find the last athlete from Africa to have won the Olympic title in track and field’s blue-riband event. South Africa's Reggie Walker is the only sprinter from the continent to win the coveted title, his success coming at the London 1908 Games.
A quiet revolution has been brewing in African sprinting in recent years with the likes of South Africa and Botswana producing world-beating one-lap racers like Van Niekerk and Isaac Makwala.
But van Niekerk has also led the way over the shorter distances, winning the silver medal at the 2017 World Championships. Van Niekerk also holds the distinction as the first man to run sub-10, sub-20, sub-31 and sub-44 times at 100m, 200m, 300m, and 400m respectively.
Over the short-sprint distances, South Africa’s Akani Simbine has consistently knocked on the door, reaching the Olympic 100m final at three consecutive Games: Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. In each final, Simbine missed out on a medal by a few thousandths of a second. He suffered the same fate in the 100m finals at the 2017, 2019, and 2022 World Championships.
African athletes have also recently entered the all-time lists over the 100m, 200m, and the 400m with van Niekerk leading the charge with his world record over the one-lap sprint.
Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala’s continental record of 9.77s, clocked in 2021, ranks him as the ninth fastest man in history.
Which brings us to the man of the moment: Letsile Tebogo. The sensation from Botswana has taken the world by storm ever since he won medals in both the 100m and the 200m at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
Tebogo first surprised many by winning the silver medal in the 100m, becoming the first-ever African runner to reach the podium in the short-sprint event at the Worlds. He then added the bronze in the 200m for good measure and announced himself as a hot property.
Tebogo had registered on the global athletics radar before his heroics in Budapest when he clocked an Under-20 world record of 9.96s at home in Gaborone when he was just 18. He lowered the mark to 9.91s months later to gold at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.
'Now they see Africa as a sprinting home'
The 21-year-old Tebogo completed his coronation in Paris, where he obliterated a stacked field which included three-time world champion Noah Lyles. Tebogo was almost Usain Bolt-esque as he eased off over the final metres beating his chest in celebration.
The youngster crossed the line in a scorching African record of 19.46s which would rank him fifth behind names like Bolt and Michael Johnson.
“It means a lot to the African continent because now they see Africa as a sprinting home," Tebogo said after the race.
"So we just had to make sure that the message is loud and clear. It didn’t take so long, they were just waiting for me to step up."
Tebogo also made a cameo in the 100m final earlier in the Games where he finished in a creditable sixth place with a personal best and national record of 9.86s in one of the closest races in history. Not bad for your first Olympics!
Africa has produced four Olympic champions over the sprint distances since 1908 courtesy of Walker, Rudd, Van Niekerk, and now, Tebogo. The tide seems to be turning for Africa which predicts an exciting few years ahead for a continent often better known for its distance prowess.