The 2025 track and field sports season is on the cards. The athletes are already showing up and shedding sweat during practice sessions. Meanwhile, the 100m Olympic champion Noah Lyles has gone one step ahead. He has announced his opening event in the fresh calendar. On February 2, Lyles will be seen in the Ralph Mann Memorial men’s 60m race in Boston. The race will have enough spice as it will field two Olympic champions against each other—Noah Lyles and Lamont Marcell Jacobs. So, everything is set while the fans are counting the days. However, a track and field veteran has recently said something enough to break Noah’s fans’ hearts. 

In a YouTube podcast, ‘Run Your Race,’ Justin Gatlin took Letsile Tebogo’s name while mentioning a track and field sports prospect for the coming days. He also compared Tebogo with Usain Bolt. But what did he actually say in the podcast? The former Olympic champion claimed, “He [Letsile Tebogo] actually, I would say he’s like a compact version of Usain Bolt.” Not only that, Gatlin spilled more words while confirming the comparison.

Being one of the key rivals of Usain Bolt in his prime time, Justin Gatlin exactly knows what it takes to be someone like the Jamaican athlete. Gatlin further added, “He has the same running style as Usain. He’s like, his swag is like cool, you know what I mean? Emoji with sunglass kind of dude. Just cool, quiet.” The qualities in the character that are necessary to be a legend in track and field sports! Further, per Gatlin, the Botswana athlete never compromises with his fiery pace on the track. 

The visual experience of watching Tebogo perform made the American legend say, “His running is just off crazy. But his body, he can run 400,300,200,100 and I mean like at elite levels.” Those words made Theo Pinson and AJ Richardson, the podcast hosts, wonder about Tebogo’s charisma. Gatlin’s words are not far away from the truth. Letsile Tebogo performed a few races last year that propelled him to be a force to reckon with. He entered his 300-meter world record last season. 

Coming off an injury, Tebogo proved himself too much for a 300-meter event on February 17, 2024. He took a mere 30.69 seconds to conclude the race in South Africa. The timing knocked down Wayde Van Niekerk’s world record (30.81 seconds). Also, it was far better than Usain Bolt’s 39.97 seconds, set in 2010. That wasn’t all! In March last year, Tebogo attempted to go past the 400m world record and made the 44.30 seconds look easy. He couldn’t derail the world record of 43.03 seconds set by Wayde Van Niekerk. But Letsile proved his mettle, and that was enough to count him on the list. Also, who can forget his 200-meter race against Noah Lyles in the men’s final at the Paris Olympics? 

After winning the gold medal in the men’s 100m final in the Paris Olympics, Noah was the betting favorite to sweep the 200m race. After all, he is the reigning world champion, and in the Tokyo Olympics, he claimed the bronze medal in the men’s 200m event. Also, Noah Lyles has one of the best timings in the 200m race, 19.31 seconds (an American record, achieved in 2022). Compared to that, Letsile had 19.50 seconds, made in 2023. Lyles had the clear margin to win the race. But in reality, things turned out differently. Under the August sky in Paris, Tebogo claimed victory, completing his race in 19.46 seconds. Noah stood third! But he was ready to give Tebogo the flowers. Are those timings and achievements enough to count Tebogo as Usain Bolt’s successor? 

Not Noah Lyles but Letsile Tebogo comes with a plan 

Since achieving the sprint double in the Budapest World Athletics Championships, Noah Lyle has been headlining, promising to claim four medals in the Olympics. He wanted to do that, beating Usain Bolt’s records in the men’s events. “He (Usain Bolt) was the fastest man ever to do it….and soon it’ll be me,” Noah claimed at the beginning of last season. But in Paris, nothing fell into place for him. He won the 100m event in the men’s final, but the timing wasn’t enough to break Usain Bolt’s record (9.58 seconds). On the other hand, Letsile Tebogo has devised a definite plan to break Bolt’s records. 

Tebogo has a serious target: to break Bolt’s timing in the 200m event (19.19 seconds). “We have a better chance in the 200, I want to believe,” he claimed before moving to the Paris Olympics. But what about motivation to continue on the avenue? He has two, actually! One came from Bolt. In the conversation, Letsile shared, “Usain Bolt himself said in an interview that the 200-meter record might be the easier of the two, and I concur.” And another is Nelson Mandela’s words. 

The Olympic champion said, “But like Nelson Mandela once said, ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done!’”  And how is he going to follow that on track? “⁠We will have to start with other records that come before the world records, like area records and maybe third and second-fastest times ever, and some meeting and championship records, before we can really start the world record conversation,” Tebogo laid out. Now, he has another certificate, coming from another Olympic champion. So another motivation, right?