A rare breed!
Calistus Kolantsho - Mqondisi Dube | Saturday August 6, 2022 06:00
Letsile Tebogo is taking the athletics world by storm after some astonishing run in the last three weeks, which saw him smash four records.
Since he burst into the local scene in February last year, Tebogo has smashed eight local and world records, ahead of his 200m final which took place in Cali, Columbia early this morning.
It does not seem Tebogo is done, in fact, at 19, he is only blooming forcing comparisons with the great Usain Bolt.
The two-time World Under-20 champion’s trail-blazing run began on February 21, 2021, when he smashed a seven-year 100m record. Then little-known, Tebogo beat Isaac Makwala’s 2014 mark of 10.20, shaving 0.06secs to record a new national time of 10.14.
He did not take long to better the time, as he beat his own mark on August 18, 2021, in Nairobi, Kenya during the World Junior Championships, where he recorded a time of 10.11 on his way to winning gold. In 2022, he picked off where he had left in the previous year when he removed 0.03 secs from his own 100m record, registering 10.08 at the National Stadium on February 19, as he marked his first anniversary as a record holder in style.
The world began to take further notice when, during the Gaborone International Meet on April 30, Tebogo ran sub-10 for the first time and in the process smashed the World Under-20 100m record.
His time of 9.96 was, however, recorded as unofficial by the World Athletics after a zero-gun test was not performed prior to the race.
That did not deter Tebogo who travelled to the World Senior Championships in Oregon, the United States where he officially smashed the World Under-20 record with a time of 9.94 during the heats on July 15.
He then went to Cali, Columbia for the World Junior Championships where he has been nothing short of a phenomenon. He has proved to be the unstoppable summer tornado after he sent three records tumbling since Monday. He recorded the fastest 100m time for the meet when he ran 10.00 in the heats, before smashing both the national and Under-20 record when he ran a jaw-dropping 9.91 seconds in the finals.
It could have been better with more records broken had he not slowed down in the final metres of the race.
As if it was not enough, Tebogo moved to the 200m where he set the best meet time of 19.98 and was due to compete in the finals in the early hours of today.
In his brief but rewarding career, Tebogo has won gold at the 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships, becoming the first Motswana to achieve the feat at the World Championship level.
He is an African champion in the 200m from the 2022 Africa Senior Championships held in Mauritius.
Tebogo’s frenetic record-breaking feat
February 20, 2021: breaks the national 100m record – 10.14 National Stadium August 18, 2021: breaks the national 100m record – 10.11 Nairobi, Kenya February 22: breaks the national 100m record – 10.08 National Stadium April 30: breaks national and World Under-20 (unofficial) record – 9.96 National Stadium July 15: breaks national and World Under-20 record – 9.94 Oregon, US August 1: breaks World Junior Championships record – 10.00 Cali, Columbia August 2: breaks national and World Under-20 record – 9.91 Cali, Columbia August 3: breaks World Junior Championships 200m record – 19.98