The 21-year-old boy from Botswana has created history after reaching a grand milestone. Letsile Tebogo bagged the gold in track and field after finishing first at the 2024 Paris Olympics for men’s 200m. He left prominent stars like Noah Lyles and Kenneth Bednarek behind by swiftly moving like the wind, clocking a time of 19.46 seconds- an utterly unexpected and mind-blowing feat.

The rising star from Botswana, Africa, has gifted his country its first-ever Olympic gold medal, making everyone extremely proud. Tebogo has turned himself into one of Africa’s brightest stars, with multiple victories that showcase his incredible talent. His journey include a load of boulders, which he overcame to be at the position that he holds today, but to make everyone’s journey smooth, he shares the biggest flaw of track and field athletics, hoping it can be mended. 

The struggle is real: Africa’s lacking

In his recent interview with Olympic.com, Letsile Tebogo talks about the challenges faced by athletes in Africa. The lack of local prospects to foster, nourish and evolve new talent– absent or rarely found. Tebogo, known for his reserved personality, who believes in action over anything, speaks up to spread awareness so something can be done and athletes in Africa get what they deserve. “Every step that you do, you have to think beyond that one step that you want to take for yourself because everybody is watching what you are doing so you’ve got to make sure that you pave the right way for the stars coming up,” he said.

Unlike countries like the United States, which has a highly developed sporting infrastructure, many African nations find it quite difficult to create a blueprint for aspiring athletes. Tebogo’s reflection is both a critique and an alarming call, as he urges African nations to invest in the future of their athletes to prevent losing talent.

Tebogo points his finger at a critical issue for African athletics- the lack of development and support to consistently develop future stars after living the real thing and overcoming the challenges faced. Tebogo compared the facts with those of the United States. “There’s nothing really that makes us special when compared to the United States,” Tebogo stated.

“But all I can say is that Botswana will take care of a gem perfectly, more than the US can, because I believe the US has got too many athletes. So even if there’s a Letsile today, tomorrow there will be the next one. In Botswana, you can’t find the next Letsile, so that’s how I’ve concluded it.”

How do the African nations go about building a quality infrastructure? Tegobo has some words of advise on that as well. 

Letsile Tegobo: Need more regional programs!

Through his words, he underlines the fact that smaller African nations, with very limited resources, hustle to identify and nourish young talents. Due to the absence of enough local support systems, emerging athletes frequently miss opportunities to reach their full potential. Tebogo believes that for lasting success, Africa’s active investment in competitions and programs– both regional and local – to create the next generation of athletes is a must.

All in all, in addition to skill development and its honing, Tebogo emphasized the logistical challenges faced by African athletes: forced to travel internationally to compete in events, adding financial, logistical and psychological burdens. “I believe as Africans we are tired of always traveling abroad. Why can’t we take a one-hour flight from our country into the next one and then go and compete?” he questioned.

In the near future, Letsile Tebogo dreams of a day when African countries will collaborate to create more regional events, cutting down the dependency on overseas competitions. According to Tebogo, establishing a strong local competitive structure would ease the financial strain on athletes and breed a stronger sports culture across the continent. This, he believes, could pave the way for more consistent athletic development in Africa.

Tebogo, being one of the continent’s most promising stars, rings the alarm for the potential that lies untapped in Africa. The next generation of African athletes could rise to the global stage and conquer just as Tebogo has.