16 Jul 2022

Botswana’s 100m sensational runner, Letsile Tebogo will take to the track on Sunday (3am) for the race’s semifinal at the ongoing Oregon World Championship.

 He will face Erik Cardoso of Brazil, Nigeria’s Favour Ashe, USA’s Marvin Bacy, Italia’s Lamint Jacobs, Jamaica’s Oblique Sevillinne, Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala and Canada’s Aaron Brown.

Tebogo defied the odds on Saturday finishing ahead of world’s greatest runners in the likes of South Africa’s Akine Simbine and Jamaica’s Yohane Blake in the 100m heats clocking 9.94 and in the process register a new World Junior record.

Despite running with a yellow card for arriving late at the call room, Tebogo, defied the odds to a set new record.

To most athletics fanatics Tebogo’s triumph is a vindication that the youngster is the world’s best Junior, stemming from the unpopular decision by World Athletics not to ratify his 9.96 he ran during the Gaborone International Meet (GIM) due to irregularities in April.

His coach Dose Mosimanyane said he was happy that the yellow card did not deter Tebogo to prove his mettle.

The record comes as a bonus as time was not their target, but aimed to finish in the top three.

“We knew that the heat was tough to win and it was going to produce a sub 10 and it was Tebogo who hit the sub 10,” he said.

Concerning the yellow card, World Athletics’ Area Technical Official, Thomas Ndazila said the athlete should be cautious throughout the competition given that the second yellow card would be automatic disqualification.

Nonetheless Ndazila said Batswana should not be worried with the yellow card for now, adding that the coaches would do the needful, as the yellow for unsporting behavior was the discretion of the referee. ENDS