Letsile Tebogo had only one mission in mind at Paris 2024 Olympics - win the Olympic 200m gold medal and dedicate it to his late mum. He did both conveniently in a historic way.
Following his historic feat of winning the Olympic 200m gold medal at Paris 2024, Letsile Tebogo has dedicated his unprecedented achievement to his late mother who passed away in May after a brief illness.
Competing in the race of his life and on a mission to win the Olympic title, Tebogo stunned pre-race favourite Noah Lyles to the iconic victory in a blazing new African Record (AR) of 19.46s.
By doing this, the 21-year-old became Botswana's first-ever gold medallist in Olympic history and the first man from Africa to win an Olympic 200m title, thus etching his name as the greatest African sprinter to run the event in history.
USA's duo of Kenny Bednarek and Lyles settled for the same podium placements they won at Tokyo 2021, as they crossed the finish line in 19.62s and 19.70s for respective silver and bronze medals.
After his historic race, Tebogo brought out his spikes which had an inscription of his mother's initials and her date of birth.
"E.S.T 23-12-1980"
His lovely mum Seratiwa Tebogo who passed away in May 2024 after a brief illness, had always been supportive of his career and was at every major meet he competed at.
She watched him last year at the World Championships in Budapest last year, where he became the first African man to finish on the podium in the 100m with a shining silver medal.
He also has the same inscription of her initials on his nails.