)
Olympic champion and Botswana's track icon Letsile Tebogo reveals his honest opinion on training in the US and why young African sprinters should follow in Bayanda Walaza's footsteps.
Following the extraordinary exploits of young African sprinters this season, Letsile Tebogo has thrown his weight behind South African teen sensation Bayanda Walaza on snubbing American training or college scholarships.
Walaza blazed his way to the top as the fastest teenager in the world after winning the double sprint titles at the World U20 Championships in Lima, thus becoming the first South African sprinter in history to achieve such a feat.
The 18-year-old stormed to the 100m title in 10.19s and produced an even better performance in the 200m with a stunning 20.52s to defeat Australia's highly talented youngster Gout Gout.
His historic outing in Lima was a follow-up to his brilliant display at the Paris Olympic Games, where he and Nkoana formed part of South Africa's silver medal-winning team in a new African Record of 39.57s, which proves that his brilliant breakout year is a testament to his talent and makes him the brightest young sprinter in the world.
)
11:02 - 04.09.2024
World's fastest teenager Bayanda Walaza arrives to a hero's welcome in South Africa following exploits at U20 Championships
18-year-old sprint star Bayanda Walaza was honoured to a hero's welcome in South Africa following his historic feats at the World U20 Championships in Lima.
This made him receive several scholarships from top US colleges, which the charismatic youngster turned down to stay in South Africa.
Why Bayanda Walaza turned down US college offers
“I’m planning to go to Tuks, where I’m doing logistics, and I’ll carry on my schooling while I’m continuing with athletics,” he said in an interview with citizen.co.za.
“I’m not going to change coaches because that can cause a lot of difficulties. It’s better to chill with the coach that’s working for me. He made me get two gold medals, and silver at the Olympics, so why must I leave him?
)
“That’s one of the reasons, but there are a lot of reasons why I want to stay in Pretoria. I love it,” he concluded.
Letsile Tebogo supports Bayanda Walaza's decision referencing how the US destroys young African talents
Walaza's sentiment has now been backed by Tebogo who propelled himself to be a role model to thousands of young African athletes globally after winning Botswana's first Olympic gold medal in Paris.
)
16:55 - 15.09.2024
Letsile Tebogo breaks silence on Diamond League loss: It wasn't easy to keep the focus after the Olympics
Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo reflected on his defeat to Kenny Bednarek at the Brussels Diamond League to end his 2024 season that saw him rise to the top as one of the best sprinters this year.
The 21-year-old clocked a national record of 19.46s to win the 200m final in Paris, and the next day he ran a heroic final leg to help Botswana earn 4x400m silver behind the US quartet.
)
In the wake of his Olympic success, he revealed how much it meant to him.
“I am proud of what I did at the Olympics because it was something that was stuck in my mind, helping the guys get a silver medal," said Tebogo in an exclusive interview with worldathletics.org.
When asked about whether he had considered moving to the United States, where so many of the world’s top sprinters have been developed, Tebogo replied:
)
“It’s a tough question to answer but in the United States there is a lot of competition, so once you take one gem from Africa and you put it there, it is going to be destroyed.
“In the US there is already a new Michael Johnson coming up, Quincy Wilson. There is always somebody coming up for them. But for Africa, it is rare to see somebody like me.
)
16:00 - 18.09.2024
'Ouch' - Usain Bolt reacts after being compared to 3D simulation of fastest land animals on earth
Usain Bolt is known as the fastest man in history, but where does he rank when compared to fastest land animals like a Cheetah? Also, can humans be redesigned to be as fast as animals?
“So for me to decide not to go there but to sit down and start from way back in 2016 to just watch how African athletes progressed going to America – I found out that a lot of African athletes make it out of college but they can’t go professional afterwards.”
Tebogo and Walaza's decisions to trust the process and stay in their countries will hopefully make career-changing impacts on young African athletes to believe in the system that helped nurture them to stardom instead of chasing the proposed opportunities that come with going to the US on scholarships.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)