Imitating Usain Bolt and racing like him: who is Letsile Tebogo, the new phenomenon of world athletics

The Athletics live a dream momentAnd the records continue to be broken. Now, in the middle of the pole vault of the Swedish Armand Duplantis, who touches the sky is the athlete from Botswana, Letsile Tebogo. The 19-year-old sprinter broke the junior 100m record, but is also making headlines for his personality.

Perhaps this is also why he is compared to the historian Usain Bolt. The Jamaican is the reference for Tebogo, which after having lowered its brand, seems to have no roof, and expresses: “I saw the fans and I wanted to remind them of what Bolt did in the past. He is my idol, the person I admire.”.

And these claims have to do with a controversial attitude he has had regarding the closing of the 100m trial at the U20 World Athletics Championships in Cali, Colombia. The African flew and won the gold medal after reaching 9.91 seconds, but before taking charge of the race he had time to dedicate a gesture to his escort.

The one who followed him a few tenths of a second behind was the Nigerian Bouwahjgie Nkrumie, who crossed the line in 10.02 seconds and broke his country’s record under 20. Despite the great performance, Nkrumie was not enough win gold. And finally, he suffered a provocation from the native of Botswana.

When both were close to the end of the race, Tebogo realized he had a considerable distance from his rival, and allowed himself the luxury of celebrating the victory a little early. On the final straight, Botswana turned their heads to their right, and began to point to his pursuer, almost underestimating the race.

The celebration continued. Passing the finish line, the athlete slowed down, but he continued his career by greeting those present. Next, she posed next to the stopwatch which indicated she had broken the category record. When asked what his moment would have been if he hadn’t provoked the Nigerian, he pitched: “I think I would have done 9.80”.

“We have more races ahead of us, we didn’t want to go that far. I’m a junior and we had to leave him here for the next generation to beat him,” added the African athlete. He commented: “I hadn’t planned the party, but as soon as I took the first step I knew the title was mine. I didn’t care about the time. I didn’t look.”

To close, the youth athletics figure spoke of his spectacular departure, which has already accumulated thousands of reactions on social media. With the world of sport at his feet and the burden of inheriting the marks of his idol, Usain Bolt, Tebogo closed: “I saw that my rivals were afraid of me, but I was afraid of them too. . When the shot rang out, I had to make sure I had the best start of my life and I did.“.

From frustrated footballer to Usain Bolt’s heir

Looking through Tebogo’s numbers, it’s hard to believe that his life hasn’t been tied to athletics from the moment he learned to walk. The truth is, his beginnings in sports had little to do with it. Botswana had a short and almost involuntary experience in football, which did not end in the best way.

At the age of six, Letsile started playing football. At that time, Tebogo wore shorts in his native Botswana, until he began to stand out for his speed, and there he knew what his future of him would be. “In football they always left me on the bench, which frustrated me. This motivated my decision to return to athletics, as I saw it allowed me to bring food to my family’s table.“, He explained.

What is clear is that this phase was in the past, at least for now. It should be remembered that after his retirement Usain Bolt decided to venture into football, and he even wore the jersey of more professional teams. Tebogo will seek to emulate the Jamaican’s career in track and field. Will he do it in football too?