“Go ahead and keep making your money until you get your pockets where you need to be or either they close the door on you as a sport, period. And then you got to move on,” track and field legend Justin Gatlin advised on the May 23, 2024 episode of Ready Set Go. He knows the deal—track stars have a pretty short window to cash in before the grind starts taking a toll. With the intense demands of the sport, even the fastest can’t outrun Father Time forever. That’s why it’s smart to think ahead about how to keep the money flowing after the finish line fades. Botswana’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist, Letsile Tebogo, seems to have cracked the code, setting himself up nicely for life after the track!

Pulling off a remarkable victory in the men’s 200-meter race at the Paris Olympics, Tebogo stunned the world as he trounced the threat posed by American track and field stars Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles. But the glory achieved on the grand stage won’t last a lifetime. Tebogo understands this well and is already looking to learn how to keep earning.

A recent post on X by TV reporter Thomas Mlambo from August 20 sheds light on the track and field Olympic gold medalist’s plans for the future. “When he’s not winning on the track in Bots @tebogo_letsile_ lives a simple life and is winning on the farm,” reads the caption of the post, as the accompanying video shows the freshly-crowned 200-meter Olympic champ talking about how livestock can be a viable way to make money in the coming days.

“I need to have a solid plan to increase the number of cattles. It’s an investment for me because athletics is not a long-term career,” the sprinter states quite bluntly, perfectly aware of reality and willing to resort to a traditional profession as his livelihood after he hangs up his track and field boots.

Thanks to his spectacular achievements in the City of Love, Tebogo’s wallet looks pretty fat right now. The government of Botswana has given the track runner a 4-bedroom house and $300,000 as gifts for subduing the emphatic Noah Lyles in the 200-meter race weeks ago. But wait, there’s more—he’s raking in over $75,000 from a local company and pocketing $3,600 just for making the 100m and 200m finals.

As if that wasn’t enough, Tebogo’s wallet is about to get even fatter with a collective $260,000 from various institutions. Oh, and did we mention the polished diamond and Ksh5 million from Debswana and De Beers? But all the glitter isn’t holding him back from being pragmatic about life!

Letsile Tebogo crossed oceans to reach the pinnacle of track and field

The journey to the top of the track world wasn’t an easy road for Tebogo. In an interview in March, the star revealed how poverty was a part of his daily life as a child. The world was startled to learn that Tebogo couldn’t even afford the barest minimum when training in his early days: “I used to train without shoes. Shoes were more expensive and we couldn’t afford that because we lived with our extended family so it was difficult for us to get things,” he said in the interview.

While American sprinters almost always have the things they need to train better at their disposal, Tebogo got his first running shoes only after he broke the national record in 2020. Along with that, for the longest time, Tebogo also had a hard time trying to come to terms with how athletes are treated in his country and at international meets, despite their constant efforts to bring glory to their respective nations. “Even during our downfalls, we should be supported. Athletics is difficult and some of the athletes are depressed,” Letsile told Mmegi.

Naturally, it’s not surprising to see him being practical about his life and looking for various avenues to keep the money flowing as a way to ensure a decent living when the track and field awards and prize money stop coming. How does his realistic approach to life make you feel? Do you see Tebogo in a new light? Tell us with a comment!