"It's something I dreamed of as a child"- Letsile Tebogo opens up on meeting Pope Francis after winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics 

Letsile Tebogo met Pope Francis in Vatican City as he arrived in Rome to compete in the Diamond League after a victorious campaign at the Paris Olympics. The Botswanian athlete revealed that he fulfilled his childhood dream of meeting the Pope.

After winning the gold medal in the 200m at the Paris Olympics, Letsile Tebogo continued his 2024 season with back-to-back appearances in the Diamond League events that followed the quadrennial Games in Paris. After winning the gold medal, he went on to win the 200m in the Lausanne and the Silesia Diamond League.

As he marched on to the next meet of the Diamond League in Rome, he got the opportunity to meet Pope Francis and took to Instagram to express his joy.

"Special day and special meeting. Today I had the honor to be have been received by Pope Francis at the Vatican.I showed him the gold medal won in Paris and he signed after blessing it the spikes I wore in the 200 m Olympic final. Thank you Pope Francis for your words and thank you @athletica.vaticana to have organized it," read the caption.

Tebogo spoke about the meeting in a pre-race interview at the Rome Diamond League.

"It feels amazing to meet the Pope because it is something that I have dreamed of as a child but the dream came true so I was truly honored to be there and get the signature," he said.

Letsile Tebogo on breaking the 200m World record in 2024

Diamond League Silesia. 2024 Kamila Skolimowska Memorial. - Source: Getty

Letsile Tebogo spoke about his wish to break the legendary athlete Usain Bolt's long-standing 200m world record, in an interview at the Lausanne. Tebogo issued a clarification on his statements a week later and spoke about his goal, which is to break the world record when his body feels the best, which might be in Brussels later this year.

"I said it was 10 meters away from me. So, it is going to take a lot of courage for me to do that. I think a little bit of rest up before we could attempt it again. So, it's going to take a while," he said.

Maybe, when the body feels good, when the weather is perfect at Brussels. That's when we'll see how the time is going to be but I can't put a date on when I'm going to break the world record because the moment I put the date, I've already put myself under pressure," he added.

Letsile Tebogo is scheduled to compete in the Rome Diamond League in the men's 100m on August 30, 2024.