Botswana Celebrates Historic Olympic Gold Medal As Tebogo Returns House

Botswana erupted in celebration as Letsile Tebogo, the nation’s first Olympic gold medalist, returned residence on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old sprinter made historical past by profitable the boys’s 200m on the just-concluded 2024 Paris Olympics, turning into the primary African to attain this feat.

As Tebogo and the Botswana Olympic workforce touched down in Gaborone, the capital metropolis was awash with sky blue and black nationwide flags. Households, kids, and supporters of all ages flocked to the small airport, desperate to welcome the nation’s new hero.

The thrill was palpable as lots of of individuals gathered, buoyed by a half-day public vacation declared by President Mokgweetsi Masisi to honor Tebogo’s unimaginable achievement.

President Masisi himself was on the forefront of the celebrations. Earlier than greeting the athletes, he was seen dancing on the tarmac, an aide holding an umbrella to protect him from the solar, embodying the enjoyment and satisfaction felt throughout the nation.

Tebogo’s victory within the 200m, with an African file time of 19.46 seconds, noticed him outpace American sprinters Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles on August 8. This win, together with a silver medal within the males’s 4x400m relay, introduced Botswana’s complete Olympic medal depend to 4.

The celebrations didn’t cease on the airport. Outdoors, conventional dancers adorned in animal skins and beads set the stage for a grand welcoming ceremony, which later moved to the nationwide stadium. The complete nation was in a festive temper, having already loved a half-day off on August 9 to have a good time Tebogo’s success.

Tebogo is the one second African athlete to safe an Olympic medal within the males’s 200m, following Namibian Frankie Fredericks’ silver in Atlanta in 1996. Botswana’s journey to Olympic glory started on the 2012 London Video games when Nijel Amos claimed silver within the 800m. The boys’s 4x400m relay workforce added to the tally with a bronze at Tokyo 2020.

Botswana’s success on the Paris Olympics additionally contributed to Africa’s general medal depend, which rose to 39, two greater than on the Tokyo Video games. Kenya led the continent’s medal haul with 11 within the French capital. Tebogo’s triumph marked a big second for Africa, as half of the finalists within the males’s 200m had been African athletes, signaling the continent’s rising prowess in shorter observe occasions, historically dominated by its success in longer distances.

See Images Beneath: