22 Aug 2023

With the 100 metres done and dusted and a silver medal safely packed in his bag, Botswana and Africa’s wonder boy, Letsile Tebogo next tackle is his favourite event; the 200 metres race.

It is also the race that his new rival, the American Noah Lyles, also excels in. So it is game on as the 200 metres heats start today at the ongoing World Athletics Championship held in Budapest, Hungary.

Will Tebogo go all the way and deliver Botswana’s fourth World Championships medal to add onto his silver and Amantle Montsho’s gold and silver medals from the 2011 and 2013 championships respectively?

Tebogo, who will be running in heat three, will meet with Blessing Afrifah of Israel who denied him a gold medal at the World Athletics Junior Championships last year.

Other athletes who are on the start list include amongst others, Liberian Joseph Fanbulleh, Swiss William Reais, Joshua Hartmann of Germany, Marcos Santos of Angola and Hachim Maaroufou of Comoros.

On paper, Tebogo who will be running from lane seven is the favourite looking at his Season Best time of 19.50.

Assistant national team coach, Kebonyemodisa Mosimanyane said in an interview that after Tebogo’s record-setting run on Sunday, there had not been adequate time to focus on preparing specifically for the 200 metres. All the preparatory work had to be fitted into the two days after the 100 metres finals.

“We knew from the onset that the two events would come in quick succession of each other, so we combined preparations for both 100m and 200 metres,” Mosimanyane said.

“Right now, Letsile is tired. He ran a personal best in the finals, which drained him. He could have used a longer recovery period, but unfortunately we don’t have the luxury of time.”

The coach said they had set themselves a target of only making it to the 100 metres finals, but the athlete had surpassed that, adding that he was aware that the feat could make him over-excited.

However, he said they had a good discussion to address that.

He said the athlete was attended to by a physiotherapist and spent the two free days mostly resting.

“He spent most of his time sleeping and drinking a lot of water to replace his electrolytes, and we only did light exercises,” he said. University of Botswana senior lecturer in the Department of Sports Science, Dr Tshepang Tshube said emotions, both happiness and sadness, had an effect on athletic performance.

“In the case of Letsile, breaking the national record and being the first African to win a 100 metres medal at the World Championships certainly raises his excitement and emotions,” he said

Dr Tshube observed that since the entire continent and arguably the whole world, had been celebrating Tebogo’s success on social media and other platforms, his thoughts were likely to be preoccupied with excitement and happiness, instead of focusing on the next race. “The key here is his ability to transition from excitement to a calm mental state and focus on the 200 metres. The team around him, mostly his coach, should play a key role to ensure that he is protected and focuses on the next event,” Dr Tshube said.

He advised that it was important for Tebogo to stay away from social media and shut out all the noise to allow himself a sense of normalcy and calm.

He said the athlete needed to follow the same 200 metres routine that served him well in previous events.

He stated that mental toughness was vital for consistent performance and pointed out that Tebogo had demonstrated that several times and could do it again.

“The 200 metres race is his favourite race and he has been successful at it before. He needs to take one round at a time and focus on relevant cues,” Tshube said.

The race starts at 1250pm, while Oratile Nowe will also be competing in the 800 metres heats at 1020am. ENDS