Kutlo Motseta
6th July 2025
African sports icon, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo has returned from injury in fine style at the Wanda Diamond League Prefontaine Classic meet in Eugene, United States of America on Saturday, winning the 200m in 19.76 seconds. This is the fastest time this year, which gives him the official world lead.
The 200m Olympic champion showed that he is on track for the Tokyo World Championships in September, with strong hopes of upgrading his world championships silver medal from the 2023 Budapest World Championships.
Always one put to put on a good show, he crossed the finish line, pointed at his watch and symbolically put a crown on his head, which reminded everyone that his times have made him the reigning king of the 200m.
He was well received by the appreciative American sports public, who cheered loudly when his name was announced at the starting line, which is reminiscent of adulation afforded to Usain Bolt, who was embraced transnationally by sport supporters for delivering good performances. Tebogo’s historic upset victory over the absent American superstar Noah Lyles at the 2024 Paris Olympic, was still fresh in their minds.
He reassured the public that despite his recurring hamstring injury setback, his season is on course. He suffered a grade two hamstring strain.
“I am looking at how many weeks I have missed from training and putting on this kind of performance, it shows that people should not get worried. I lost so many weeks of training to get into recovery,” said Tebogo.
“Going with the season, I believe i will be stronger each and every step of the way. We’ve just introduced gym … before it was just me, no gym, I’m happy with how it’s been for us,” he added.
Strength training is an important facet of sprinting as it increases stride length and improves performance. This is an indicator that Tebogo has not yet reached his potential,as he naturally challenges Bolt’s 16-year-old Bolt’s world record which stands at 19.19 seconds.
There are over two months remaining before the world championships, which gives him plenty of time to approach peak form for the 2025 season.
He will be inaction over the next few weeks as he competes at the upcoming Wanda Diamond League competitions.
