Letsile Tebogo steadfastly refused to be the face of athletics after his Paris Olympics glory. But why? Well, according to him, Noah Lyles was the obvious choice to claim that position, for being the possessor of certain attributes. He does not see himself as being that crowd-puller. Instead, he wants to settle himself in the record book of track and field in the upcoming years. However, Lyles, his rival, finds several elements in the Motswana athlete that set him apart from the others. 

In an interaction with Michael Eaves of SportsCenter, the 27-year-old athlete backed Tebogo as the probable candidate to enter Season 2 of the Sprint docuseries. As per the reigning world champion, Letsile’s story would find the views because it comes with grit and endurance. Especially with his victory at the Paris Olympics, evading the grief from his loss would demand clapping from the audience. 

Regardless, Noah has flowers for him despite facing the thrashing in the men’s 200m final at the Paris Olympics. He steadfastly laid out, “He [Letsile] has an amazing story. I mean, with the passing of his mom this year and still being able to come out and, you know, find the courage and the energy.” Notably, with Tebogo, her mother had been a common sight at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year.

Facing back-to-back defeats from Noah, he could snag two medals in both 100m and 200m events. But the gold remained out of his reach. But Seratiwa, Letsile’s mother, didn’t lose her smile. Instead, she found the victory in these failures—the victory was that her son could put their birthland on the map of global athletics. Since that day, Letsile has made his target—to set the victory flag in the Olympics. 

On August 8, he attained that feat by overpowering Noah and Kenny Bednarek in the men’s 200m event. But Tebogo’s mother wasn’t there to see her son flying in the sky. In May this year, he lost Seratiwa to a brief illness. Even Letsile Tebogo could not attend to his mother in her last moments because he was engaged in the preparations for the Los Angeles Grand Prix. But in Paris, he carried his memory of his mother with him. 

After winning the much anticipated 200m final, Letsile Tebogo flaunted his spikes in front of the full house of Stade de France. It was Seratiwa’s birthday imprinted on the spikes. Noah Lyles shouted out this raw display of determination where rivalry took a backseat. As per him, the second season of Sprint will celebrate such stories, irrespective of having a winner or not in it. But in his own story, Tebogo has already taken up the throne. He has won several peaks, apart from the Paris Olympics. 

Noah Lyles’s ‘hero’ believes in fighting back 

Last year, on Netflix, Sebastian Coe, World Athletics president, said, “It takes a special talent, both physically and mentally, to succeed in a world where your fate is decided in just 10 seconds.” Noah Lyles has repeatedly shown what he can do in 10 seconds. In Paris, he cruised past Kishane Thompson, winning the duel by five thousandths of a second. But what about the fight away from the track? 

After the Paris Olympics, Letsile Tebogo continuously dominated the 200m events until Kenny Bednarek halted his winning streak at the Diamond League final in Brussels. But every day, he was fighting another fight with his mind. He explained one such instance after the Rome Diamond League final, where he had to manage himself to get himself up for the race.

Paris 2024 Olympics – Athletics – Men’s 200m Final – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – August 08, 2024. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana reacts after winning gold with bronze medallist Noah Lyles of United States. REUTERS/Sarah MeyssonnierThe reason that tried to meek him was the “mental breakdowns.” But Tebogo tried to cope with the problems by staying ‘positive.’ This maxim has made him toppling the barricades. After surviving the odds, he stated, “Sport and my mother’s infinite love allowed me to realize everything in life, even up to Olympic gold.” Let’s see what the future holds for these two competitors now, shall we?