Letsile Tebogo makes major plea to African governments during G7 address

Letsile Tebogo makes major plea to African governments during G7 address

Joel Omotto 15:46 - 27.10.2024

Botswana sprinter Letsile Tebogo has provided solutions to African governments on how to compete favorably with Americans & Europeans during a G7 summit address.

Botswana sprint sensation Letsile Tebogo has challenged African governments to invest more in sports if they want to effectively compete with those from developed countries.

Tebogo made his plea at the G7 summit in Italy where he urged African governments and the private sector to increase their investment in sports and also empower more coaches from the continent so that they can produce world beating athletes.

The 21-year-old used himself as an example, saying he is now an Olympics champion thanks to an African coach and having done all his training on the continent, and believes a lot more can be achieved if there was a deliberate effort to invest in sports infrastructure and personnel by African governments.

“Even though we were able to achieve all this, it was with very little resources and substandard facilities compared to some of my competitors from developed countries,” said Tebogo, as per Botswana News Daily.

There has been a push to have African sprinters move to the US and Europe for training to enhance their capacity and while some have taken up the challenge, Tebogo feels it is not necessary as results can be achieved even on the continent if there is proper investment.

Tebogo also feels this could be one way of reducing the high rates of unemployment in Africa as sports is capable of creating many job opportunities for the youth.

Tebogo is off a highly successful track season when he won Olympics gold in 200m, a first for Africa, led Team Botswana to silver in 4x400m relay, while also claiming five Diamond League wins with a 300m world record also achieved this year.

He is among track stars nominated for the prestigious World Athlete of the Year Award with his rivals including Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Americans Noah Lyles, Rai Benjamin and Grant Holloway as well as Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

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