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"We have a better chance in 200m" - Letsile Tebogo aims to break Usain Bolt's world record
Botswana sprinting sensation Letsile Tebogo has set his eyes on the 200m world record, 19.19s, of legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
The 100m world record of Bolt still seems untouchable. But the 200m one is in big danger with multiple sprinters clocking closer times to the record. American runner Noah Lyles is only 12-hundredths of a second behind, and he hasn't shied away from expressing the desire to break the record.
Joining Lyles is Letsile Tebogo now, who has posted a world lead time in the 200m sprint in his outdoor season opener only. The 20-year-old ran 19.94s to win the ASA Grand Prix 200m.
Tebogo broke the 300m world record in the ASA Grand Prix in 30.69s, and is looking confident to improve the personal best of 19.50s in the 200m diaclone. While he said that breaking Bolt's record was a difficult thing, it wasn't an impossible one.
"We have a better chance in the 200, I want to believe. Usain Bolt himself said in an interview that the 200-meter record might be the easier of the two, and I concur”, he told Forbes Betting.
Expressing that he wanted to focus on lowering his times for now, Letsile Tebogo added:
"We will have to start with other records that come before the world records, like area records and maybe third and second-fastest times ever, and some meeting and championship records, before we can really start the world record conversation. But like Nelson Mandela once said, ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done!’”
Letsile Tebogo vs. Noah Lyles
American sprinter Noah Lyles has established himself as the top name in international circuits. He won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m gold at World Championships in Budapest, and later clocked the third fastest time in 200m sprints last year in 19.31 seconds.
Letsile Tebogo won bronze in 200m at the World Championships and silver behind Lyles in the 100m sprint. However, he went on to clock 19.50s later in the year. While Lyles has a personal best of 10.83s in the 100m, Tebogo is only 5-hundredths of a second behind him at 9.88s.
The Botswana runner ran a personal best of 44.30s in the 400m season opener in March. Both him and Lyles have the potential to bag four gold medals, and it sets up for an exciting clash as they go head to head against each other at Paris Olympics 2024.
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