The men’s sprint double at the 2024 Paris Olympics was the perfect example of the phrase, Expect the unexpected. Despite arriving as the underdog in the 100m, Noah Lyles dramatically won gold. However, Lyles, who was the favorite to also win the 200m gold, shockingly ended up in third behind Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek.

Just like Julien Alfred stunned the track and field community after defeating Sha’Carri Richardson, Botswana’s Letsile did the same in the men’s 200m. Although Lyles revealed that he ran despite falling sick due to COVID-19, the outcome remained the same. Now, the 21-year-old gold medalist from Botswana has dealt another blow to Lyles while being rewarded for his historic achievement.

“This will be the first time since 2018 that Noah Lyles will not end his season ranked #1 in the 200m. The World and Olympic 100m Champion has ended his 2024 campaign,” Track and Field Analyst @kemal_e_forde revealed on X. Although the Olympic gold medalist has recovered, he hopes to rest and regroup after a rollercoaster Olympic campaign.

So what did Letsile Tebogo get for dethroning the American as the top-ranked 200m sprinter in the world? Well, Tebogo earned nothing short of life-changing rewards. The Botswana government and several other institutions have pooled their resources to shower the 21-year-old for hoisting their nation’s flag in the Olympics.

Reporter Fentuo Tahiru of Ghana revealed that the government rewarded the man who defeated Noah Lyles with a 4-bedroom house. Besides a new home, the sprinter is set to earn over $300,000. The Olympian will earn “1 million Pula ($75,000) from a local company,” according to GhanaWeb. He’ll also earn an additional $3,600 for reaching the 100m and 200m finals.

Finally, multiple independent institutions will collectively reward the Kanye native with $260,000 in cash. A fitting prize for the first African to win Olympic gold in the 100m event and the first athlete from Botswana to win a gold medal in the Olympics. However, things could have turned out differently.

Noah Lyles ignored the warning signs

During his appearance on the Nightcap podcast on YouTube, the 27-year-old athlete explained the moment he realized something was off. “Looking back, there were signs on the day of the finals (100m). I was like ‘This is taking too much energy to produce what I normally produce.’ But I just threw it to the side,” said Lyles. However, he couldn’t ignore it any longer by Tuesday midnight.

Noah Lyles felt fatigued, with a sore throat, chills, and a headache. So the sprinter immediately called Team USA’s doctor, who ran tests that showed he had contracted the virus. Yet, despite feeling sick, the defending world champion raced the following day. However, Lyles the unfortunate health issue does not take away from Letsile Tebogo’s achievement.

The African sprinting icon lost his mother Seratiwa Tebogo just months ahead of the Olympics on May 19, 2024. It was a huge blow that impacted his training ahead of the biggest competition of his life. Tebogo dedicated his gold medal-winning performance to his late mother. So it won’t be a surprise if he dedicates all his rewards and success to Seratiwa Tebogo as well.