{"id":252189,"date":"2026-01-22T18:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/252189\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T18:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:41:10","slug":"pride-of-the-nation-letsile-tebogo-news-gaborone-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/252189\/","title":{"rendered":"Pride of the nation \u2013 Letsile Tebogo | News | Gaborone 26"},"content":{"rendered":"

Letsile Tebogo stepped on to the track alongside his teammates, bearing the weight of a nation and a continent on his shoulders. Together with the men\u2019s 4x400m relay team, he turned belief into performance, lifted the hopes of a nation, and turned an Olympic bronze from Tokyo in 2021 into gold at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25. A journey of patience and pride, and a nation lifted.<\/p>\n

Now, with 100 days to go, Botswana prepares to host the World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26 where the host nation will be on the hunt for further honours.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we get into the team, it\u2019s only one personality,\u201d said Olympic 200m champion Tebogo. \u201cThe teamwork that we have, the mentality that we have when we are going into the 4x400m \u2013 now it\u2019s teamwork. We\u2019re doing all this for the country, for everybody who\u2019s watching and in support of Botswana.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that I\u2019ll always look back on and cherish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tebogo\u2019s season had been impacted by injury, but when he got to Tokyo he was determined to still compete in all three events \u2013 the 100m, the 200m and the 4x400m.<\/p>\n

And forming part of the team that claimed Africa\u2019s first world 4x400m title was the perfect end to the championships for the 22-year-old, who rebounded after being disqualified for a false start in the 100m final and missing out on a 200m medal by one place, despite clocking 19.65.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m forever grateful for my teammates, for the confidence that they gave me,\u201d he said in an exclusive World Athletics video feature<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey boosted me into stepping up because it was just more of a horrible season for me. The injuries that we had during that season, we had too many starts and stops.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter what happened in the 100m, in the 200m where you know you had true potential to bring up a medal and it didn\u2019t happen, the confidence went downhill, but they managed to pull it back up the hill again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pride<\/a><\/p>\n

Racing in the pouring rain Tebogo ran the second leg in the 4x400m final, taking over from Lee Bhekempilo Eppie and running a strong lap before handing the baton to Bayapo Ndori. In a thrilling finish, individual 400m champion Collen Kebinatshipi chased down USA\u2019s 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin and edged ahead in the closing stages to get gold on the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to lock in differently to know that this is not my individual event \u2013 I am carrying three other people\u2019s hopes with me. So, why not? I shouldn\u2019t disappoint them. No matter how tired I am, no matter what\u2019s going through my mind,\u201d added Tebogo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just stepped up \u2013 it was the team that pushed me through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tebogo also formed part of the Botswana 4x400m teams that clinched Olympic silver in Paris in 2024 and won at the World Athletics Relays in Nassau, The Bahamas, that same year.<\/p>\n

The next edition of the World Athletics Relays heads to his home soil on 2-3 May.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on his nation’s success, the World Athletics Kids\u2019 Athletics ambassador added: \u201cIt means a lot because they know we are inspiring a lot of kids in Botswana. Even the elderly trying to exercise, trying to keep healthy. That\u2019s the most important thing about Botswana.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to continue to dominate the 4x400m for as long as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interview and video production by Marta Gorczy\u0144ska for World Athletics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Letsile Tebogo stepped on to the track alongside his teammates, bearing the weight of a nation and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-252189","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}