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The 2004 Olympic gold medallist pointed out the qualities that make Letsile Tebogo a great 400m runner.
Justin Gatlin has disclosed what makes Letsile Tebogo an exceptional 400m runner, revealing how he might give his competitors sleepless nights when he moves to the longer distance.
On his Ready Set Go podcast, the 2004 Olympic 100m champion explained how Tebogo's 44.33-second split, competing in the first leg of the 4 by 400m heats was authoritative before he handed over the baton.
The two-time Olympic silver medallist added that if Tebogo had not slowed down, he would have run a faster time.
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16:20 - 28.08.2024
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The two-time Olympic silver medallist noted that he wants to see Noah Lyles break Usain Bolt's 200m world record first before making audacious plans for the 400m.
“That’s an interesting concept…Well you know, at the end of the day, in the prelims, Tebogo was first out of the hole and he split a 43 out of a whole. That is a true 43 from the blocks. This dude just literally ran 43 and slowed down to hand it off. That means that he has a lot left in the tank, especially on the 400m side,” Gatlin said.
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On his part, Gatlin’s co-host, Rodney Green added that he would love to see a rematch between Tebogo and Rai Benjamin in the men’s 4x400m relay time. However, this time around, he wanted to have Tebogo receive the baton first and see what would happen.
Green explained that if it were the case, he would have wanted to see the chasing power in Benjamin and if the Botswanan youngster would hold him off to win the race. He added that at the World Relays, Team Botswana had fired warning shots at their rivals and they were out to win gold in Paris if not for a slight delay in the final of the race.
“When we got to the World Relays, what did we see? It was out there, they were doing their thing. So, by the time they got there (Paris Olympics), all of them were in pretty good shape. USA had an X factor though, in Rai Benjamin. Rai Benjamin was that X factor. It was tough…I would have loved to see Tebogo and him,” he said.
“If Tebogo had it (baton) at the same time, or if he got it maybe before Rai and see if he could really roll him up or if Tebogo would extend on him. Tebogo’s split is a 10th faster than Rai’s. In my head, I would have loved to see Rai work a little behind Tebogo.”
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