Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo dedicates historic sprinting gold to his late mother

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo made history in more ways than one with his gold medal performance tonight in the men’s 200-meter race, and the emotional sprinter dedicated the win to his late mother.

Tebogo’s mother, Elizabeth Seratiwa, passed away last May, according to Olympics.com. On the track tonight, Letsile showed the camera that his racing spikes were marked with her birth date, and had her initials painted on his fingernails.

Tebogo’s victorious dash marks Botswana’s first ever Olympic gold and made him the first African in history to win the Olympic 200-meter sprint.

Tebogo is one of more than 600 International Olympic Committee scholarship holders at Paris 2024, according to Olympic organizers.

Tebogo’s victorious run was in some ways overshadowed tonight by the shocking revelation that American sprinter Noah Lyles, who finished a surprising third in the race, had Covid-19.

But Lyles was quick to turn the spotlight back toward the African sprinter, sharing his congratulations in a message on social media: