• Records Botswana’s first ever world stage medal at short distance level
• Tebogo narrowly missed out on a 23 year old record

BONGANI MALUNGA

Botswana’s sprint sensation Letsile Tebogo recorded a historic double as he bagged a gold medal in the 100m category and a silver medal in the 200m category at the Under 20 World Championships in Nairobi, Kenya. In the process he became the first ever Motswana to record a podium finish in the short sprint category in a global competition.

Tebogo won the final on Friday with an impressive time as he clocked 10.19. At the time, this was Botswana ‘s second ever gold medal in the competition after Nijel Amos’s win in 2012. In the next few days Tebogo and Amos were joined by Anthony Pesela who won gold in the 400m category and the Botswana 4x400m relay team who also bagged gold.

Tebogo’s stride, posture and running power mirrored that of many global sprint stars many of whom are versatile double acts in the 100 m and 200m categories. The 18 year old star proved that he is also a double act as he bagged a silver medal in the 200m final. In what turned out to be a battle of final lap sprint bursts between Tebogo and his Nigerian counterpart Udodi Onwuzurike, the latter emerged victorious as Tebogo could only settle for a silver medal.

The race could be viewed as a preview of what could be a match up for the next decade in short sprints at African and global level with Botswana finally having a say in short sprint conversations. Tebogo recorded a time of 20.38. Tebogo narrowly missed out on a 23 year old record at the championship which was set by British athlete Christian Malcom who won a gold medal in the 100m and 200m categories in 1998.