'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Letsile Tebogo shows his Olympic gold medal to Pope Francis as he reaches Rome for Diamond League
Letsile Tebogo is in Rome for the next edition of the Diamond League. It looks like the Olympic champion from Botswana is all set to add another feather to his cap by winning the Diamond League this year in the men's 200m event.
However, Tebogo was recently in the news for his meeting with Pope Francis, the bishop of Rome and the head of Vatican City, one of the holiest sites for Christians around the world.
Not only did Tebogo seek blessings from the Pope for his departed mother, whom he considers as his greatest source of inspiration, but also he got the Pope's signature on his iconic orange spikes. Tebogo also showed the Pope the Olympic gold medal that he won in the men's 200m event.
Tebogo had recently participated at both the Lausanne as well as the Silesia legs of the IAAF Diamond League. He won both of the races in style, creating a new meet record at the Silesia Diamond League with a timing of 19.83 seconds. Alexander Ogondo of the Dominican Republic had finished second here with a national record timing of 19.86 seconds, while Olympic silver medalist Kenny Bednarek finished third overall with a timing of 20 seconds.
Letsile Tebogo's performance at the Paris Olympics
Letsile Tebogo had entered the Paris Olympics 2024 as one of the dark horses in both 100m and 200m. Despite winning gold medals in 100m and silver medals in 200m at the 2021 and 2022 editions of the World Under-20 Athletics Championships, Tebogo wasn't the top contender for the Olympic gold medal in the 200m event.
However, that proved beneficial for the Botswana sprinter, who had no extra baggage on him as he headed to compete in the 100m. Even though he qualified for the finals, Tebogo finished sixth overall. Yet, his timing of 9.86 seconds was a new national record for Botswana.
Tebogo now focused on 200m, where he had won a bronze medal at the previous year's World Championships. He wasn't the fastest in the heats overall, yet he recorded 20.1 seconds to qualify for the semifinals.
In the semifinals, Tebogo topped both his heat as well as the semifinals overall, with a timing of 19.96 seconds. In the finals, Tebogo went on a rampage, as he surged ahead at the halfway mark, not stopping until he crossed the finish line first. With a new African record of 19.46 seconds, Tebogo became Botswana's first Olympic gold medalist ever in the history of the Summer Olympics.
However, Tebogo wasn't done yet. Even though he couldn't overcome Rai Benjamin in the finals, the sprinter from Botswana ran enough to give Botswana a silver medal in the men's 4x400m relay event, with a record timing of two minutes and 54.53 seconds. His split timing was 43.04 seconds, which was just one-hundredth of a second shorter than Wayde van Niekerk's world record of 43.03 seconds, which he created in the 400m event at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Trending
