‘Mom’s in every stride’

After becoming first African to win Oly 200m, Botswana’s Tebogo remembers late mother, whose birthdate is printed on his shoe; COVID-hit Lyles is third

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo became the first African to win the Olympic 200 metres on Thursday as he—and Covid—upstaged Noah Lyles’s plans for a sprint double in Paris. 

Tebogo, 21, was able to ease up at the end and still clocked an African record of 19.46sec for gold, with American Kenny Bednarek taking silver in 19.62sec and Lyles fading to bronze in 19.70sec. 

Lyles, who was pictured in the warm-up area wearing a mask, admitted after the race he had COVID. “I’ve had better days,” the American said. “I do have Covid. I tested positive around 5:00 am on Tuesday morning. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling chills, aching, sore throat. I knew it was more than just being sore from the 100. We woke up the doctors and we tested and unfortunately, it came up that I was positive for Covid.” 

Covid woes aside, the night belonged to the ground-breaking Tebogo. The sole African previously to have won a short sprint title at an Olympic Games is South African Reggie Walker, over 100m at the 1908 Games in London. Tebogo’s time saw him leapfrog American Erriyon Knighton to go fifth fastest in the all-time list. 

The gold was also Botswana’s first ever at an Olympics. “It was really a beautiful race for me,” Tebogo said. “When we made it to the final, my coach just told me, ‘Now my job is done, it’s up to you to see what you can do. Whether it’s a medal or not, just finish the race healthy.’ 

“That’s all I could’ve wished for. I’m happy I finished the race healthier than before,” he added. Tebogo’s gold is even more impressive given that he lost his mother Seratiwa in May. His running shoes bear his late mother’s date of birth. “It’s basically me carrying her through every stride that I take inside the field,” said the sprinter. 

“It gives me a lot of motivation. She’s watching up there, and she’s really, really happy. I didn’t want to put the date of her death, because I’ll get emotional,” he added.

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