He now shifts his attention to the 200m campaign that gets underway on Wednesday, followed by the semi-finals on Thursday and the final on Friday. Despite the disqualification, Tebogo proved that he had something special, pulling a shocker by making it into the 100m final. Ahead of the star-studded final that included the fastest men in the World, Tebogo was ready for a showdown and prove that he was also a force to reckon with in 100m. But it has not been an easy season for him, reaching the World Athletics Championships with 10.03s. During the semi-final, Tebogo finished second with 9.94s, an indication that he was looking forward to a podium finish in the final. A dream that slipped away when he was red-carded. Speaking to the media after the disqualification, Tebogo said he just had to let the race go because other athletes were ready, and he did not want to delay anybody. “Looking at the way I have performed in 100m this season, it has been rocky, awful. Making it into the final was huge for me, and running sub-10. I did not want to waste time protesting the decision of the officials. I let them run their race, congratulate them, and then go to the next one,” he said.
National team head coach, Chilume Ntshwarang, told Sport Monitor that Tebogo has accepted that the DQ has happened, brushed it aside, and moved to the next race, the 200m. Bayapo Ndori, Lee Bhekempilo Eppie, and Busang Collen Kebinatshipi will today line up in the men’s 400m semi-final. Ndori qualified for the semi-final by winning his heat with a time of 44.36, but it was not an easy heat for Kebinatshipi as he finished in position four with a Season’s Best (SB) of 44.48, advancing to the semi-final as the next fastest. Eppie booked his slot by finishing in the second position in his heat with a time of 44.44. Kebinatshipi dropped his speed a lot, spent more than 100m without showing seriousness, and only realised towards the end of the race that he had a lot of work to do.
