Tebogo cruises to 400m win at ASA Grand Prix, clocks new personal best
The sprint sensation’s stand out performance saw him complete his race in this year’s world leading time of 44.29 seconds over the distance, ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris starting in July.
FILE: Botswana's Letsile Tebogo celebrates winning the silver medal in the men's 100m final during the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on 20 August 2023. Picture: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP
JOHANNESBURG - If you haven’t heard it before, Letsile Tebogo’s name is one you should get familiar with because you will be hearing it a lot in the future.
The 20-year-old from Botswana clocked a personal best time in the 400m event during the second edition of this year's Athletics South Africa Grand Prix that took place in Pretoria on Monday night.
The sprint sensation’s stand-out performance saw him complete his race in this year’s world-leading time of 44.29 seconds over the distance, ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris starting in July.
Tebogo, who is a 100m and 200m specialist, had previously only run the 400m once before in his senior career and set the world record for the fastest time in the 300m last month when he ran 30.71s – beating Wayde van Niekerk's mark of 30.81s from 2017.
Running in the longer sprints earlier in the season usually helps with maintaining speed and endurance while easing the strain on the body ahead of what is expected to be a gruelling season.
Tebogo had a breakthrough year in 2023, where he won the silver medal at the World Championships in the 100m in a time of 9.88 seconds and claimed bronze in the 200m in 19.81 seconds.
While the time he ran at Tuks Stadium in the 400m is good enough to qualify for the Olympics, it’s unlikely he’ll compete in that event at the Games where he is a realistic medal contender in the shorter sprints.
This year’s Olympic Games run from 26 July until 11 August.