RTL Today – Their finest sporting moment: Botswana take the afternoon off to celebrate their first Olympic gold medal

President Mokgweetsi Masisi gave Botswana a day off on Friday afternoon to celebrate the victory of Letsele Tebogo, the country’s first Olympic gold medalist and the first African to win the 200m at the Games.

The 21-year-old sprinter had a stellar performance on Thursday, with Masisi hailing him as “Botswana’s genius”.

Tebogo won a stunning gold medal in the 200m, leaving pre-race favourite Noah Lyles behind to finish third, after which the Mmegi newspaper hailed it as “Botswana’s finest sporting moment”.

To further improve his performance, he also set an African record of 19.46 seconds.

The president said Tebogo’s achievements would “go down in the annals of the Republic.”

The Olympic medal is the third for Botswana, following Nigel Amos’ silver in the 800m at the 2012 London Olympics and the men’s 4x400m relay team’s bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Videos shared on social media showed students at the University of Botswana singing and dancing late into the night, while people in the southern African country expressed their pride on Facebook and Facebook.

“History made!” Masisi said on his X account. “My voice was completely lost thanks to the extraordinary #LetsileTebogo.”

Masisi also paid tribute to Tebogo’s mother, who was also Tebogo’s biggest fan and passed away in May.

Tebogo is only the second African athlete to win a medal in the 200m and the first African athlete to win the 200m gold medal.

Namibian Frankie Fredericks won silver medals in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996.

Botswana National Olympic Committee senior vice-president Tshepo Sitale told AFP the committee was “extremely happy” with Tebogo’s achievement.

“Letsile is a rare talent who has put Botswana on the world map,” he said, adding that a welcoming ceremony and motorcade would be held at the airport to take the sprinter home next week.

“Welcome to the club, Letesile Tebogo!” silver medalist Amos wrote on Facebook. “Your achievement is more than just a personal triumph; it is a landmark moment for our country, especially after more than a decade without an Olympic medal.”