Sprinter Tebogo reveals why he's not the face of athletics after his Olympic win
Tebogo Letsile answered questions about being the new face of athletics after beating Noah Lyles to win gold in the 200m sprint on Thursday, August 8.
The Botswana sprinter brought victory to his country and the African continent.
After winning the men's 200m final, he was asked if he had aspirations to set a world record and become the face of athletics.
Tebogo responded by saying, “I'm not the face of athletics because I'm not as arrogant or vocal as Noah (Lyles).”
The interview went viral on social media, garnering mixed reactions.
“As an African and English second language speaker, I completely understand what Tebogo is saying here and I don't think he is actually calling Noah arrogant in a negative way. I think he was simply trying to say that he is not as loud as Noah and does not have the positive arrogance (energy) that Noah has. I don't know the context of the question or if it was intended to be patronising, but knowing Tebogo he is a very humble and polite person and I don't think he intended to disrespect Noah,” wrote a Twitter user.
“This was an English translation error, not a malicious remark,” wrote another user.
He speaks on the track pic.twitter.com/xiTjHEglLv
— Max Clearance (@Artonomous) August 9, 2024
