Letsile Tebogo has been quite a busy man this track and field season. With 28 appearances throughout 2024, it looked like the sprinter refused to slow down. In fact, after effortlessly clinching the 200m Olympic Champion title by setting an African record, the Botswanan produced another podium-worthy performance in the 4x400m relay at Stade de France. But the 21-year-old was still not done. He pulled off a win in every 200m race he ran in from Paris and the Diamond League until his unbeaten streak came to a scratching halt in Brussels. 

On a September 25 episode of the Punchline Podcast with Lawrence Seretse, the host brings up the 200m finals in the Brussels Diamond League in conversation with Nijel Amos. “The weekend race wasn’t quite as impressive as his other races. He has been consistent in the past couple of handful of races. I don’t know what happened there.” After the Olympian shocked the world with an upset win in Stade de France, fans looked forward to him seizing W’s throughout. However, his blistering 19.80 seconds was only good enough for second place.

Seretse asked the first Olympic medalist from Botswana what his take on the race was. “I think for performance to come to play so much things come to factors you know like the weather, the body responding that day, and the guy been racing for almost five-six races,” Amos stated. Letsile Tebogo has constantly been on the track since his dreamy stint at the Paris Olympics. The Olympic silver medalist continued, “Run eight races of the Olympics, the body gets to a point where to need some rest.” Could that possibly be his undoing?

But regardless of what the masses say, Nijel Amos was pleased with the result. “I think he ran an excellent race, 19.80s, just like still one first of the race. It just that there was a better man on the day, you know?” Even though many hoped the Botswanan would walk away with the Diamond Trophy, 200m Olympic silver medalist Kenny Bednarek scorched past the 21-year-old in 19.67 seconds! Tebogo even stated how, after the Olympics, it wasn’t easy for the sprinter to focus. 

Nijel Amos reiterated that this shouldn’t dent the sprinter’s record. “In sports, you can’t always beat your records, you know?” He uses his own performances as an example. “Like I set my record in 2012. I ran 1:40 again in 2019.” At the London Games, Amos sprinted to the finish line in 01:41.730 seconds, becoming Botswana’s first Olympic medalist with a silver. Since then, multiple injuries kept him off the podium until 7 years later at the Monaco Diamond League in 2019. His blistering 1:41.89 nabbed him a win, but he was also one out of 5 men in history to break 1:42. However, this wasn’t the only thing Amos had to say about Letsile Tebogo. 

Letsile Tebogo is one of the good ones after the 2024 season

The Botswanan contested in eight races at Stade de France for the 100m, 200m, and 4x400m events. While he missed out on the podium in the 100m, he snagged a gold and silver Olympic medal before moving on to the Diamond League sector. With 2 first-place finishes leading up to the Paris Summer Games, he snagged 4 more, along with a second-place finish in the finale at Brussels. Sereste asked Nijel Amos what his take was on the 21-year-old’s performance this season on the podcast. 

“I think we have a good one in there, you know? Good run of the years, yeah.” The 800m Olympic silver medalist reiterated how this has been nothing short of surreal to watch. In fact, after Letsile Tebogo’s historic win in the French capital, Amos was over the moon. He let his emotions show with a celebratory post on Instagram. “He’s one of the best, you know? He’s one of the best of generation,” the middle-distance runner confessed. However, Amos believes he is the key to the future.

The one defining factor, according to Amos, is that the sprinter will take the generation with him. “He’s one of the best who came out here with the proper structure that on him, that is there existing enough for him to be able to do that.” The sprinter went through intense training leading up to the Paris Olympics. But this factor proved detrimental for the Botswanan once the Games were done and dusted. 

Letsile Tebogo may not have won the Diamond Trophy. But he drew the curtains on this season with two massive honors. His blistering 19.46 seconds in Paris put him at the top of the men’s 200m 2024 list. However, his second-place time of 19.80 seconds in Brussels was considered the best performance by any athlete under 23. The Botswanan received a bronze statue of Jesse Owens, asserting his status as the best upcoming talent in the sport. Seeing how 2024 has come to a close, will Tebogo pay heed to Nijel Amos’ warning?