Letsile Tebogo shatters Wayde Van Niekerk's personal bests on 3 fronts- Complete comparison between the upcoming 20-year-old & the World record holder

20-year-old Botswana sprinter Letsile Tebogo has already battered Wayde van Neikerk’s world 300m world record, and seems to be intent on chasing down the Olympic Champion’s 400m world record as well.

Tebogo marked himself as a force to watch out for back in 2021, when he won the 100m sprint at the World Athletics U-20 Championships. Since then, the 20-year-old has gone on to win a silver in the 100m and bronze in the 200m event at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, putting himself on the list of medal contenders for Paris.

In terms of timings, Letsile Tebogo has outdone South Africa’s Wayde Van Niekerk in every event except for the 400m sprint.

His personal best in the 100m sprint is 9.88 seconds, which he set during his silver medal performance at the World Championships in Budapest. Meanwhile, Neikerk's record in the discipline is 9.94 seconds, which dates back to June, 2017.

Meanwhile, Tebogo’s personal best in the 200m is 19.50 seconds, which he achieved while competing in London last year, where Neikerk's best in the same event is 19.84 seconds which he clocked in 2017.

It is in the 300 where Letsile Tebogo revealed to the world that he was a double-edged sword. Typically competing in the shorter distances, the athlete stormed to a 30.69 finish at the Simbine Curro Classic Shoot-Out in Pretoria, smashing Wayde Van Niekerk’s world record of 30.81 in the event.

Coming to the 400m, Niekerk is still the superior athlete in this category by far. The South African’s 43.03 at the Rio Olympics was good enough for gold, and has also made him the reigning world record holder in the event. Tebogo’s best in this sprint is a 44.29, which while impressive still leaves him a well over a second behind Niekerk.

Letsile Tebogo clocks 400m World Lead

Letsile Tebogo set a world lead in the 400m

A handful of days ago, Letsile Tebogo stunned the world once again when he stormed to a 44.29 finish in the 400m sprint at the Bestmed Tuks Stadium in Pretoria. In doing so, the Botswanian shaved 0.46 seconds off of his previous personal best, and set a new world lead time for 2024.

Before Tebogo, the world lead was held by Canada’s Christopher Morales Williams, who had clocked 44.49 in Late February.

With this massive victory for the 20-year-old, fans are left wondering if he’ll switch to the middle distance for the 2024 Paris Olympics or stick to the 100 and 200m sprints. Either way, an impressive performance from the youngster is almost certainly guaranteed.