Letsile Tebogo Claims The Men’s World Athlete Of The Year Award-A Look Into His 2024 Season

At the 2024 World Athletics Awards, Letsile Tebogo was named the World Athlete of the year in the men’s category. Courtesy to his historic win in Paris as the first African Olympic Champion in the 200-meter, the 21-year-old received the honor in Monaco on 1st December. “This means a lot. It was a real surprise to hear my name because I didn’t expect this.” Tebogo, who also claimed the award in the men’s track athlete category, stated in an interview.

This honor for Tebogo, who competed in the Olympic year with the search of “doing something great for the continent,” was truly impressive, as he edged out many strong 2024 Olympic champions, including Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Team U.S.A. also provided three strong athletes, Rai Benjamin, Grant Holloway, and previous year winner Noah Lyles, competing for the honor.

Tebogo’s numbers for the year speak for themselves helping him receive the top honour in Monaco. Apart from his Olympic wins, he also set new records and clocked several top performances in 2024.

Letsile Tebogo’s 2024 Season

Tebogo maintained consistent outings throughout the year in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 300-meter events. The 21-year-old athlete’s eight out of ten top results have been clocked in the 2024 season. In the 200-meter dash, after winning the ASA Athletics Grand Prix in 19.44 in March, the double world medalist made his Kip Keino Classic debut in April, claiming second place. The athlete who led the race till the final laps clocked another sub-20 time of 19.71.

However, his top performance in the 200-meter was his Olympic gold win at the Stade de France, winning the race in an African record 19.46. Tebogo’s time was also faster than Noah Lyles’, who again claimed bronze in the event.

Maintaining his outings after Paris, in September, during the Zurich Diamond League meet, the African record holder also surpassed 200-meter silver medalist Kenneth Bednarek to win the meet in 19.55. Lastly, Tebogo concluded his season with silver at the Diamond League Final in Brussels in 19.80, helping him claim nine sub-20 second races in the 200-meters this season.

“We didn’t even count how many 19-second races I ran in this season. Because it was Olympic year, there was just that drive in me that wanted to keep on going,” Tebogo stated in an interview despite not participating in a few races this year.

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Apart from this, he has also performed great in the 100-meter dash, setting two national records this season. At the Diamond League meet in London, the silver medalist from the 2023 Worlds rounded to the podium in 9.88 seconds to match his own national record. Following this, at the 100-meter Paris Olympic finals, Tebogo, despite finishing sixth, managed to lower the national record to 9.86.

Interestingly, in the 300-meter, Tebogo showcased stellar performance as early as in February. At the Simbine Curro Classic, he set a new world record in the event. He finished the race in 30.69, taking more than a tenth of a second (0.12) off the previous record time of 30.81 set by Rio Olympics 400-meter winner Wayde Van Niekerk in 2017.

In essence, Tebogo’s 2024 season has been a truly great one. The 21-year-old now looks forward to the next season with a new approach. As the Botswana sprinter “is going to be changed and a mature one” for the year 2025.