BNSC chief executive officer, Tuelo Serufho said Tebogo is entitled to the incentives after winning a gold medal and also for breaking the World Under-20 record as per the revised Performance Incentives and Rewards Package.
“He will receive P50,000 for the gold medal and P50,000 each for breaking the Under-20 record at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, in the United States of America (USA) and the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Cali, Columbia,” he said.
Tebogo was expected to bag further medals from the 200m race which took place early today and the 4x100m relay, which could see his earnings surpass P200,000.
Meanwhile, World Athletics (WA) has no cash incentives in store for the juniors. WA head of communications, Nicole Jeffery told Mmegi Sport that there is no prize money or record bonuses at the World Under-20 Championships. However, Jeffery said individual athletes might get a sponsorship agreement, which includes bonuses.
Due to his brilliance, Tebogo earned a scholarship from Oregon University (USA), where he is expected to enrol next month. National team coach, Justice Dipeba said the opportunity has its advantages and disadvantages. He, however, said education is very important. “It is important to have both careers; education and a sporting career.
But going to the US and running under the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) can be taxing. There are too many competitions and remember you will not be making money when you run for the university,” he said.
Dipeba said the risk is that sport is a bit of a gamble.
He said an athlete might come out after four years and not be able to perform at the highest level. “If you have taken the risk of running professionally in those four years, you can come out of there with a good financial statement,” he said. Dipeba said he could not talk about coaching, because he believes that local coaches have proven themselves. “We have proven that we can coach athletes to the top of their game.
We have seen a lot of athletes even in the US who have opted to go professional,” he said. Some of the athletes who were under NCAA and turned professional are Trayvon Bromell, Fred Kerly, and Michael Norman.
“Tebogo is still young and I think if he gets a good deal he should go for it. But he should know that at the end he would need education. He needs to find a way of making that one of his bucket list,” Dipeba said.
Meanwhile, Botswana Athletics Association president, Paphane Botlhale said Tebogo is a gem that deserves to be nurtured. He said the success of the athlete is a great achievement for the country.
