Letsile Tebogo has been having a spectacular athletic year. He won the 200m gold at the Paris Olympics defeating Noah Lyles. Lyles, who was the favorite to win it before the start of the competition, only managed to get the bronze medal. Tebogo ran his personal best in the race with 19.46 seconds. Since then, he has gone on to have a brilliant run. Right after Paris, he appeared in the Lausanne Diamond League, where he stood in first place with a time of 19.64 seconds!

He continued the winning streak at the Silesia Diamond League, finishing first with 19.83 seconds. Now, he has done it again in Zurich. Despite trailing behind for most of the race, Letsile Tebogo overtook Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton in time to win the race. The Motswana athlete posted a time of 19.55 seconds just above Bednarek’s 19.57 and Knighton’s 19.79. With every passing day, he is getting closer to Noah Lyles’ personal best and his confidence seems to be increasing too.

After winning in Zurich, Letsile Tebogo took to X, where he posted a photo of himself crossing the finish line ahead of Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton. He captioned it, saying, “If you take something from me it should be notes.” By this, he wants to announce to the track world that they need to learn from him to beat him! This confidence in himself is absolutely justified. There now might be an argument that he’s the best 200m athlete in the world.

Letsile Tebogo’s recent spectacular run at the Olympics and the Diamond League really ignites the argument that he might be the best in the world. The only person standing alongside him, if not ahead, is Noah Lyles. Sure, Tebogo did defeat Lyles at the Olympics. But it was later revealed, through his own admission, that he was suffering from COVID. Yet, he managed to bag the bronze medal. Plus, Lyles’ consistency over the last few years is commendable and should be taken into account.

Thus, it’s difficult to say if Letsile Tebogo is actually better than Noah Lyles right now. However, comparing their statistics, it seems the gap is closing in every single day.

Comparing Letsile Tebogo and Noah Lyles: Who is the best in the world?

Letsile Tebogo and Noah Lyles’ first faceoff at the 200m came during the London Athletics meet. There, Lyles finished first with a time of 19.47 seconds. Tebogo followed him in the second place at 19.50 seconds. They would then meet again at the World Championships in Budapest, also won by Lyles with 19.52 seconds. Tebogo finished third with 19.81. Thus, the whole rivalry really looked one-sided until the Olympics. That’s when Letsile Tebogo got better off Noah Lyles for the first time during the semifinals.

Tebogo won that race with 19.96 seconds while Lyles came up second with 20.08 seconds. That’s when fortune turned for the Motswana sprinter. Since then, his spectacular run, which stretches to the recent run in Zurich, started.

Noah Lyles, on the other hand, has been out of action since Paris. He hasn’t confirmed any date for a return yet. Lyles’ personal best, which is 19.31, still remains the best time by any current athlete. Letsile Tebogo’s personal best of 19.46 seconds matches the exact time of Lyles’ second best. But, Lyles has never gone below 19.4 since 2022.

Plus, with age on Tebogo’s side and looking at his ruthless form, it seems inevitable that he might break the American’s record soon. That’s when he’ll officially become the best 200m sprinter in the world. Right now, everything is just speculation on both sides.