“There is no ducking the Letsile Tebogo smoke”;“I could watch this forever”- Fans react as Bostwana athlete splits 43.5s in the 4x400m at World Relays

The opening day of the World Athletics Relays saw some stunning performances, and one of those was credited to Botswanian Letsile Tebogo. Typically a specialist of shorter distances, the youngster has been dabbling in the 400m this Olympic year and has surprised audiences with his immense versatility.

Coming into the Bahamas, Tebogo was scheduled to run the men's 4x400m relay, with Botswana failing to achieve the qualification mark for the men's or women's 4x100m event. On Saturday, the 20-year-old was joined by compatriots Isaac Makwala, Leungo Scotch, and Bayapo Ndori as they lined up for heat four.

Makwala, an Olympic bronze-medalist in the 4x400m relay, got off to a disastrously slow start, clocking a 47.67, the second slowest leadoff of the race. However, Letsile Tebogo was quick to put Botswana back on track, clocking a 43.5, which was good enough to put the team in second place ahead of the third leg.

Fans were left in awe of the sprinter's athleticism and quickly took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their enthusiasm. One fan compared the 20-year-old to reigning 100m and 200m World Champion Noah Lyles, writing,

“Tebogo is being petty this year, each event Lyles is contesting, Tebogo is also contesting. 100, 200, 400 or even steeplechase, there is no ducking the tebogo smoke this year.Can't wait for Paris.”

Another netizen expressed their wonder at the World Championship medalist's performance by writing,

“I could watch this forever.”

Plenty of other fans were stunned by Letsile Tebogo's incredible performance.

“Tebogo needs to compete in the 400m at the Olympics,” one wrote.

“Tebogo Letsile is clearly a cheat code,” another added.

“That boy finally showed true effort from start to finish,” one netizen expressed.

“Makwala is tired, Tebogo really saved the day,” yet another X user chimed in.

Letsile Tebogo helps Botswana secure 4x400m Olympic berth

With Letsile Tebogo’s incredible performance, Botswana is now on track to make their third consecutive men's 4x400m relay appearance at the Olympics.

After Tebogo's 43.5 split, the team went on to finish first in their heat with another set of impressive performances from Leungo Scotchband Bayapo Ndori. This top-of-the-charts finish guarantees the nation a spot at the 2024 Olympics, although the team that runs in Paris will be decided at a later stage.

Letsile Tebogo does have a great chance of making it to the Botswanian Olympic team on the 4x400m relay, having clocked a personal best and former world lead of 44.29 earlier in the season.