WATCH: Late night celebrations erupt in Botswana as Letsile Tebogo beats Noah Lyles for 200m gold at Paris Olympics 2024

By Riddhi Acharya

Modified Aug 09, 2024 16:04 GMT

Letsile Tebogo stunned the world when he stormed to the 200m gold at the Paris Olympics, outdoing America's Noah Lyles. In light of the sprinter's achievement, Botswana was quick to erupt in celebration, taking to the streets late at night to revel in their first ever gold as a nation.

Tebogo had a strong start to his campaign at the Games, first running the 100m and placing sixth in the finals with a time of 9.86s. From there, the 21-year-old went on to compete in the 200m, where he only got better. In the semifinals of the longer distance, he clocked a 19.96s run, handing Noah Lyles his first defeat in three years.

In the finals, Letsile Tebogo kept that momentum going, stopping the clock at 19.46s to be crowned Olympic champion. With his win, the sprinter became the first athlete from Botswana to win gold and the first African to win a 200m title at the Games.

In celebration of Tebogo's feat, residents in Botswana were quick to rush out to the streets late at night, dancing and singing as they celebrated their first Olympic gold as a nation. Watch a video of the celebrations below:

Botswana also honored their newly minted gold-medalist by announcing a holiday on Friday (August 9) afternoon in a ‘fitting tribute’ to the sprinter.

Letsile Tebogo dedicates Paris Olympics gold to his late mother

For Letsile Tebogo, there were no over the top celebrations as he crossed the finish line to be crowned the Olympic champion. Instead, the 21-year-old simply held up his shoes to the cameras, where fans could see his mother's birth date printed near the heel.

Tebogo's mother, Elizabeth Seratiwa, passed away in May, and he dedicated his win to her, telling reporters after the race:

“It’s basically me carrying her through every stride that I take. Me, to take her, it gives me a lot of motivation. I didn’t want to put the date of her death, because I’ll get emotional. I took about a month without doing anything. It wasn’t really clicking for me that she’s really gone. For me, I have to find the reason why I started my athletics journey and why I should continue going on.”

With his 200m gold at the Paris Olympics, Letsile Tebogo has cemented his status as one of the best Botswanian sprinters to have taken to the track, and fans will no doubt be excited to watch as he scripts more firsts for his nation in the coming days.