Up to now month, Letsile Tebogo’s lifestyles has totally modified. The 21-year-old Botswanian sprinter used to be topped the Olympic 200m champion in Paris, frightening American Noah Lyles with a blistering time of nineteen.46 seconds and securing his nation’s first-ever Olympic gold medal. Every week later, upon returning to Botswana, Tebogo used to be welcomed via tens of 1000’s of enthusiasts who packed the nationwide stadium within the capital town of Gaborone, desperate to catch a glimpse in their golden sprinter.
On Wednesday afternoon, Tebogo fulfilled some other lifelong dream via assembly Pope Francis on the Vatican prior to his look on the Rome Diamond League on Friday.
“It’s one thing I dreamed of as a kid”
Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo on assembly @Pontifex at #RomeDL🇮🇹#DiamondLeague %.twitter.com/Ggl36epCKz
— Wanda Diamond League (@Diamond_League) August 29, 2024
“It’s one thing I dreamed of as a kid,” Tebogo mentioned right through a Diamond League press convention on Thursday about assembly the Pope. Throughout their assembly, Pope Francis and Tebogo shared a heartfelt second, reportedly announcing a prayer for Tebogo’s mom, who tragically gave up the ghost previous this yr at 43 because of breast most cancers. The Pope used to be additionally pictured signing Tebogo’s spikes from his gold-medal-winning run in Paris. The spikes are engraved along with his mom’s initials and her birthdate (23.12.1980).
On Friday, Tebogo will compete within the males’s 100m on the Rome Diamond League towards a stellar box that comes with Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs, two-time Olympic 100m medalist Fred Kerley and reigning global indoor 60m champion Christian Coleman. This might be Tebogo’s first 100m race since surroundings a countrywide document of 9.86 seconds within the males’s 100m Olympic ultimate, the place he completed 6th in a fiercely contested race that noticed 8 males run beneath 9.95 seconds.
Tebogo’s adventure in athletics started simply 5 years in the past, when he began sprinting barefoot in his fatherland of Kanye. The next yr, he transitioned to dressed in footwear, gained his nationwide championships and made up our minds to concentrate on athletics over football. “Operating with out footwear in Africa and in deficient areas of the arena is standard,” Tebogo remarked. He spoke a few sturdy need to convey extra investment to athletics in Africa to enhance amenities, noting that Africa stays the one continent by no means to have hosted the Olympic Video games.