"Was a great risk to have"- Letsile Tebogo shares real thoughts on Noah Lyles setting new world lead before 200m finals

Letsile Tebogo shared his honest views about Noah Lyles claiming a world lead in the 200m semifinals at the World Athletics Championships. The Botswanian athlete is gearing up to claim the World Championship title in the event's final.

The men's 200m semifinals were held on Wednesday, September 17. Lyles stood atop the podium after clocking a world lead of 19.51s and besting Bryan Level, Kenny Bednarek, and Letsile Tebogo. These athletes claimed the second, third, and fourth positions after recording 19.78s, 19.88s, and 19.95s, respectively. The 200m finals will take place on September 19, 2025.

Following this race, Tebogo spoke to the media, sharing his honest thoughts about Lyles clocking a world lead, saying that it was a risky race and he is now gearing up for the finals. Opening up about his mindset for the 200m finals, he said:

"The lanes of just been a from the outside into the inside, had to chase, being chased. So today was a great risk to have, somebody who moves on the cave, I'm like, brand level and I think for me to advise a greater ease, you just need to combine it to the truth and then just let everything go out. I mean, somebody just ran a new world lead, which means we have to expect more tomorrow and we have to definitely bring this old lead right now. It's all emotions. Everything has just to let it just go all out."

Ahead of the 200m, Tebogo competed in the 100m dash; however, he was disqualified from the finals due to a false start.

Letsile Tebogo opened up about Team Botswana competing against the USA in the 4x400m relay at the World Championships

After qualifying for the 200m semifinals at the World Championships, Letsile Tebogo praised his relay teammates' performances in the 400m event. For the first time in history, all three runners representing Botswana made it to the men's 400m finals. Reflecting on this performance, Tebogo opened up about their strategy for the 4x400m race at the Championships.

He also mentioned the race at the Paris Olympics, where his team lost the gold medal to Team USA by a narrow margin. Revealing that his team was here for the revenge, Tebogo said:

"We haven't decided who's going to run which leg, but I believe after that, with the heat, with the finals, then that's when we'll finally make a decision of who's going where and what's going to happen. But all I can say is the boys are really ready. They're heard with what happened at Paris. So I believe they're here for the revenge."

Letsile Tebogo recently also revealed his feelings about disqualification from the 100m finals at the World Athletics Championships.

Edited by Samya Majumdar