In a new chapter of Olympic drama, Botswana's Letsile Tebogo threw shade at US' Noah Lyles after winning gold in the men’s 200-meter final.
Letsile won in 19.46 seconds, the fourth-fastest time in history, beating Americans Kenny Bednarek (silver) and Noah Lyles (bronze) on Thursday (August 8).
The 21-year-old sprinter made history as the southern African nation's first Olympic gold medalist. To celebrate his win, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi declared a public holiday Friday in honor of his achievement, ABC reported.
Highlights
- Letsile Tebogo won gold in the men's 200-meter final with a time of 19.46 seconds, the fourth-fastest time ever.
- The sprinter called Noah Lyles "loud and arrogant" for being overly confident about winning the 200-meter final.
- Noah Lyles, who won bronze, competed with Covid-19 symptoms, including chills and a sore throat.
He also made history as the first African to win a gold medal in the men's 200 meters in the history of the Olympic Games.
Image credits: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images
The young sprinter dedicated the historic victory to his late mother and competed in bright orange Nikes with a sticker with her date of birth, 23.12.1980.
Asked if his performance could help him follow in the footsteps of legendary sprinter Usain Bolt, Letsile took advantage of the opportunity to criticize his rival.
"I can't be the face of athletics as I'm not a loud or arrogant person like Noah [Lyles]" he said.
"I believe Noah is the face of athletics."
Noah, who won the 100-meter final on Sunday (August 4) by just 0.005 seconds, had said he was "pretty confident" he could win gold again in the 200.
"[Bednarek] definitely put up a fast time at [US] trials, and that definitely woke me up. I was very proud of him. He's definitely not going to take how he did here in the 100 lying down. He's going to say, 'I'm going after it in the 200.' Because he knows he can go after it.
"But my job is to make sure that … I'll just leave it there. I'll be winning."
Usain Bolt is the last sprinter to win gold in the 100 meters and 200 meters in 2016 when he did it for his third consecutive Olympic Games.
While Noah never accomplished this feat, his three golds at last year's World Championships in Budapest gave him hope that he could take home the same number of medals in the French capital.
Noah, who won gold in the 100-meter final, had previously said he felt "pretty confident" that he would win again in the 200
During Thursday's race, Noah was trailing as he and Kenny Bednarek headed into the home stretch, which is usually where he puts on a trademark closing finish, Euronews reported.
However, on this occasion, he was unable to display his full potential. The Gainesville, Florida native tested positive for Covid-19 two days before the race, with chills, aches and sore throat.
After crossing the finishing line at the Stade de France, the 27-year-old sprinter collapsed to the ground trying to catch his breath. He was then attended by medical professionals and taken off the track in a wheelchair.
"It definitely was an effect," Noah said. "But I mean, to be honest, I'm more proud of myself than anything for coming out and getting the bronze medal with Covid."
In the end, he took home a bronze medal, while Kenny Bednarek won silver and Letsile secured gold
Noah said he tested positive early Tuesday morning and quickly got into quarantine. "I still wanted to run," he expressed. "They said it was possible." According to Scientific American, the 2024 Paris Olympics have no mandatory testing for participating athletes.
"I knew if I wanted to come out here and win, I had to give everything I had from the get-go," he added.
"I didn't have any time to save energy. So that was kind of the strategy for today."