Operating in reminiscence of his mom, who handed away in Might, 21-year-old Letsile Tebogo of Botswana stormed to victory within the males’s 200m ultimate in Paris on Thursday, beating a area of giants, together with two-time world champion and 100m Olympic champion Noah Lyles and denying him the dash double he so desperately wished.
Tebogo ran 19.46–a PB and African document. Kenny Bednarek of Group USA took silver, operating 19.62, whereas Lyles needed to accept bronze for his second consecutive Olympics; the brash American ran 19.70.
Lyles’ end result was flagged with a warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour, after he entered the observe taunting his rivals and operating in entrance of them. After the race, which he left in a wheelchair, he stated he examined constructive for Covid two days in the past.
Olympic champ Letsile Tebogo strikes as much as fifth on the 200m all-time checklist 😤
🥇 19.46 Letsile Tebogo 🇧🇼
🥈 19.62 @kenny_bednarek
🥉 19.70 @LylesNoah 🇺🇸 #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/plWA7ckgS3— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 8, 2024
Tebogo beat Lyles of their semi-final warmth on Wednesday, in 19.96; it was Lyles’s first loss over 200m in three years. That is Tebogo’s first Olympics, after ending third final yr in Budapest. Bednarek gained silver in Tokyo in 2021 and silver in Eugene in 2022; he gained the primary warmth of the semi-finals on Wednesday.
No Canadians made the 200m ultimate; Andre De Grasse, the defending Olympic 200m champion, revealed he’s been coping with a hamstring downside after failing to qualify for the ultimate.
In keeping with a report in Pulse Sports activities, Tebogo’s mom, Seratiwa, handed away Might 19 after a quick sickness, leaving Letsile and his 12-year-old sister; Letsile was competing on the LA Grand Prix on the time, the place he completed second within the 100m. The household stated Seratiwa was strongly supportive of her son’s observe profession.