Letsile Tebogo has taken a dig at Noah Lyles after winning the men’s 200 metres final at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Thursday night, Afrosport reports.
The Botswana star stormed clear of his rivals to clock an African record of 19.46 seconds and finish ahead of American duo Kenneth Bednarek Lyles, becoming the first African to win an Olympic gold medal in the men’s 200 metres. It was also the first-ever gold medal for his country at the Summer Games.
Lyles, who was victorious in the 100 metres final and was considered the favourite for a sprint double, was far from his best after it emerged that he had tested positive for Covid-19 before the race.
Tebogo still took the opportunity to swipe at Lyles, who is considered the current face of the sprint double, by calling him “arrogant” and “loud”.
“For me, I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah [Lyles]. So, I believe Noah is the face of athletics,” he said.
When asked if he was at risk of contracting Covid-19 with Lyles’ exposure to the deadly virus, Tebogo stated: “Personally, I wouldn’t say I we were at risk because it’s not a contact sport. So even during the warm ups in the call room, he was just there by himself.
“So personally, I wondered why. I didn’t want to make assumptions of what he could be going through, but afterwards, all he said, after the 100 metres final, I thought it was maybe just one of those days when he’s not having a great day, so I didn’t think of COVID or anything else.”
Letsile Tebego strikes gold in the final of the men’s 200m. 😤
🥇 19.46 Letsile Tebogo 🇧🇼 #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/oyG64Su9Lb
— AfroSport (@AfroSportTV) August 8, 2024
Tebogo dedicated his participation in Paris to his late mother and emphasised the support he got from her when he was not sure about his talent.
“I believe she could be the one of the happiest people on the planet because she believed in me and I had so much doubt for myself,” he added.
In Celebration of Tebogo’s achievement, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi declared Friday as a public holiday for the entire country.
