Botswana sprinter Letsile Tebogo loses mother a day after finishing 2nd at the USATF LA Grand Prix

Sprinting sensation Letsile Tebogo has lost his mother, Seratiwa Tebogo, after a brief period of illness. The 20-year-old was just coming off a second-place finish at the USATF LA Grand Prix 2024 before the tragic news.

Tebogo rose to fame at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest where he bagged a silver and a bronze medal in the 100m and 200m events, respectively. The African superstar made headlines yet again since the start of the 2024 season, clocking world-leading times and breaking records.

He broke the 300m world record in February after clocking 30.69s at the Simbine Curro Classic Shoot-Out. A month later, Tebogo became the first man to clock under 20s in the 200m event at the ASA Grand Prix. The 20-year-old also ran a blistering 4x400m split at the World Athletic Relays to send Botswana to the Paris Olympics.

On Saturday, Letsile Tebogo clocked 10.13s at the LA Grand Prix to finish second behind America’s Kyree King. On the same day, he won the Botswana Sportsman of the Year for the second straight year. But amidst all the happiness, the 20-year-old has unfortunately faced a huge loss in her mother.

The family confirmed Tebogo's mother's demise on Monday and released a statement requesting for privacy during the tough time.

Seratiwa Tebogo recently appeared in an interview with The Voice on Mother's Day and claimed she was also a sprinter during her school days. Seratiwa had wished for his son to remain humble looking ahead to his future.

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Letsile Tebogo’s mother claimed he was a ‘hyperactive’ child

Day 7 - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

Letsile Tebogo is just 20 years of age, and yet, he has achieved so much on the tracks including holding a world record over the 300m distance. But was he gifted from birth to run this fast? Late Seratiwa Tebogo answered in an interview with The Voice:

"Like I mentioned earlier, Letsile has always been a hyperactive child."

She added that Tebogo first tried football but was benched most of the time, and thus ventured into athletics.

"That was when he ventured into athletics while in primary school; he always outran his peers. He got into the national team at age of 12, where he represented the country at the BOPSSA in Namibia and brought home a silver medal in 200m," she said.

Letsile Tebogo hasn't looked back since then. Two gold medals in the U20 World Championships, a silver and a bronze at last year's World Championships, a gold at the recently concluded World Athletic Relays, and a gold at last year's African championships are just some of his notable accomplishments. Come Olympics, Tebogo might add another gold to his growing list of medals, which would make his mother smile from the heavens.