Letsile Tebogo breaks silence on Diamond League loss: It wasn't easy to keep the focus after the Olympics

Botswana's Olympic hero Letsile Tebogo

Letsile Tebogo breaks silence on Diamond League loss: It wasn't easy to keep the focus after the Olympics

Funmilayo Fameso 16:55 - 15.09.2024

Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo reflected on his defeat to Kenny Bednarek at the Brussels Diamond League to end his 2024 season that saw him rise to the top as one of the best sprinters this year.

Botswana's Olympic hero, Letsile Tebogo's rollercoaster 2024 season ended with a loss, after being defeated by Kenny Bednarek in the men's 200m final at the Brussels Diamond League.

Bednarek showed his class and supremacy in the mouthwatering clash as a perfect curve and perfect running form in the home stretch was enough to blaze to the finish line in an impressive 19.67s.

Tebogo had no response with his usual top-end speed, settling for the second position in 19.80s, while Dominican Republic's Alexander Ogando was third in 19.87s.

Following his loss, the Motswana speed icon spoke to journalists reflecting on his performance.

"I wanted to win the Diamond Trophy, but it has been a rollercoaster after the Olympics. So it wasn't easy to keep the focus. The cameras are more on me now, but I have to focus on myself," he said.

Tebogo has had an incredible 2024 season highlighted by winning Botswana's and Africa's first gold medal in sprint history at the Paris Olympic Games. He also anchored his country's 4x400m relay squad to the silver medal, thus carting home with two medals in his maiden Olympics.

Not resting on his oars, the 22-year-old followed his Paris performance with five wins post-Olympics before his defeat in Brussels.

Letsile Tebogo anchored Botswana's 4x400m relay squad to a new African Record and Olympic silver medal // @ESPNAfrica

His exceptional rise to the pinnacle of men's sprint this year has seen him arguably earn accolades as the face of athletics (not his stack rival Noah Lyles, who is the Olympic 100m champion), as the spotlight is always on him in each of his races, topping social media and news headlines.

However, all these may not have happened after a heartbreaking moment in May, when he lost his mum to the cold hands of death following a brief illness.

Tebogo's rollercoaster season with several highs and lows will always be remembered in athletics books, and the 21-year-old can only hope for more iconic years in his quest to become one of the greatest sprinters in athletics history.

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