Botswana's Letsile Tebogo hits Cristiano Ronaldo's iconic 'calma' celebration after winning Olympic gold in 200m men's sprint

Motswana sprinter Letsile Tebogo did Cristiano Ronaldo's iconic 'calma' celebration after winning gold in the 200m finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. For many, Noah Lyles was the favorite going into the race, having not lost a 200m finals event since his bronze-medal finish in Tokyo.

However, Tebogo clocked an African and National Record (AR, NR) 19.46s to finish ahead of the USA's Kenny Bednarek (19.62) and Lyles (19.70). This marked his country's first-ever gold medal at the Games, and the 21-year-old celebrated by doing the 'calma' celebration after crossing the finish line.

Ronaldo memorably did the celebration after he scored in his team's 2-1 El Clasico win against Barcelona. It came in a LaLiga match in April 2012, when he scored in the 73rd minute to complete the comeback and virtually silence the home end at Camp Nou.

Since then, a number of athletes have done the celebration, with Tebogo now adding himself to that list. Interestingly, the Motswana sprinter, as per his profile on the Olympics' official website, excelled in football in his childhood years and showed a preference toward the sport over athletics.

As for Real Madrid's 2011-12 season, they won LaLiga by a nine-point margin, touching the 100-point mark for the first time in the league's history. Ronaldo scored a remarkable 60 goals and provided 15 assists in 55 games across competitions that season.

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Letsile Tebogo not the first Olympian to hit a Cristiano Ronaldo celebration in Paris 2024 Olympics

Before Letsile Tebogo emulated Cristiano Ronaldo's famous move, Brian Daniel Pintado hit the 'siuu' celebration after winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Ecuadorian athlete won the men's 20km walk on August 4, clocking an impressive time of 1:18.55s.

Pintado finished ahead of Brazil's Caio Bonfim (silver) and Spain's Alvaro Martin (Spain) to win Ecuador's first gold in Paris. After a grueling race, where he missed the Olympic record by just nine seconds, the 29-year-old did the 'siuu' celebration immediately after crossing the finish line.

It has become one of the most widely-recognized celebrations in world sports since Ronaldo executed it for the first time in 2013. It came in August 2013 as he scored a brace for his team in their 3-1 International Champions Cup win against Chelsea.