15 Jul 2022

The 100m sensation, Letsile Tebogo, will be the first Motswana to take to the track at the Oregon World Championships in the United States. 

He comes face to face with the world’s greats at 6:50p.m today - American time (Botswana: Saturday 3:40a.m).

Batswana will be waiting with bated breath to see how the debutant Kanye-born will perform.

Given the youthful athlete’s versatility and never say die attitude, there is hope that he may pull a shocker since he is in good shape.  

Prior to his departure to the US, the youngster said since this would be his maiden appearance at the World Championships, he would fight tooth and nail to leave an inedible mark.

Tebogo said he was not under pressure because the coach had advised him to enjoy the race and gain experience.

“I will welcome anything that comes my way,” he said, without revealing much about his target.

Tebogo will also use the Oregon championships to prepare for the World Junior Championships where wants to defend his 100m title.

Meanwhile, Isaac Makwala, Anthony Pesela and Bayapo Ndori will compete in 400m on Sunday: 8:05pm - Botswana (US: 11:05a.m)  

Team Botswana coach, Dose Mosimanyane, said in an interview that preparations went well and there were no injuries.

He said athletes were looking forward to representing their country with pride.

Meanwhile, Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) vice president, Oabona Theetso, said they targeted two medals given their relatively small team.

“If you look at the number of athletes we have sent, it is very small and by virtue of that, our expectations must match the number of athletes” he said.

Theetso said despite the absence of their two medal prospects; 800 metres runner Nijel Amos and long jumper Thalosang Tshireletso, who were provisionally suspended after testing positive for prohibited substances, the two-medal target was still attainable. Ends