Track and Field during the Paris 2024 Olympics. - Source: Getty — Letsile Tebogo (Image via: Getty)

Letsile Tebogo shares emotional message on his mother's first birthday since her death

Modified Dec 23, 2024 15:53 GMT

Letsile Tebogo recently wished his mother Seratiwa on her first birthday since her death. The Botswanian track and field athlete's mother passed away earlier this year in May due to a chronic illness.

Tebogo's mother was an instrumental figure in his track and field career and had also made visits to events to support him. Since his mother's death, Tebogo has shown admiration for his mother on various occasions and it wasn't any different on her birthday.

The 200m Olympic golf medalist took to his Instagram handle to share a couple of stories for his mother's birthday. In his first story, Tebogo posted a throwback picture from his younger days with his mother. For the second post, the Botswanian shared a video in which his mother could be seen cheering for him from the stands.

"Happy Birthday ntwana," the first post read.

Screenshot of Letsile Tebogo's first story (Image via: Tebogo's Instagram)

"It will never be the same," Tebogo's text overlay in the second story read

Tebogo's second story (Image via: Tebogo's Instagram)

Letsile Tebogo also paid tribute to his mother during his campaign at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He held his track shoes in front of the cameras which had his mother's birth date after winning the 200m gold medal at the Stade de France.

Letsile Tebogo opened up about his "quiet" nature on the track

Letsile Tebogo donning an Olive hoody during the press conference before the 2024 World Athletics Awards in Monaco (Image via: Getty Images)

Letsile Tebogo shed light on the cool and composed stance that he showcases on the track.

In an interview with Olympics.com in November 2024, Tebogo stated that every athlete has their style to carry themselves on the track and he likes to be the calm and quiet one. He also mentioned that he has always carried a similar nature in the past and his athletics career won't change this stance.

"Athletes are all different, there’s the loud ones, there’s also the quiet ones. So I prefer being silent and just let the legs do the talking. I’ve always been a reserved person, so athletics won’t change the person who I am. So I believe silence is the way."

During the interview, Tebogo also shed light on being a role model for the upcoming track and field stars of Africa and remarked that he wants to show these young athletes a path to chase their aspirations.

Tebogo added another feather to his already successful year (comprising of Olympic gold medal and Diamond League victories) by bagging the "World Male Athlete of the Year" award. He beat Norwegian sprinter Jakob Ingebrigtsen to bag this prestigious award.