23 Aug 2023

Botswana’s finest runner, Letsile Tebogo will tonight continue on his quest of clinching another medal at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary as he lines up for the 200m semi-finals at 820pm.

Tebogo cruised to the semi-finals yesterday finishing ahead of the pack with a time of 20.22, beating among others Blessing Afrifah of Israel, who denied him a gold medal at the World  Athletics Junior Champinships last year.

From the start of the race, Tebogo was very conservative possibly saving the best for the semi-finals where most athletes will come with guns blazing.

Some of the athletics pundits are of the view that should Tebogo proceed to the finals tonight, the world should expect yet another good performance.

Former athlete and now a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sport Science at the University of Botswana Dr Tshepang Tshube said it was clear in the 200m heat that Tebogo had been able to monitor and regulate his mental and emotional state.

First, he said Tebogo was focused on the race and calm from the introductions to the end, adding that was important, particularly for self-awareness.

Dr Tshube said in the build-up and during the race, he had to focus on relevant cues only, such as his starting block, lane, and productive thoughts about the race.

Secondly, he said at a technical level, two things happened: the first thing was energy management.

He said Tebogo ran to qualify, adding that he expected him to continue with his good performance tonight.

“Secondly, Tebogo was aware that he was the favourite to win and controlled the race from start to finish.

He has built the confidence to control the race.

It was clear that other athletes respected him to win the race,” he said.

Meanwhile, it was end of the road for Oratile Nowe as she failed to progress to the 800 metres semi-finals as she finished in position seven with a National Record of 2:01:62. ENDS