On today’s edition of ‘feel good stories that you never knew you needed to hear’ we have Botswana warming our hearts. Now that the Olympic Games are officially over, the real work has begun, and celebrations deservedly are well underway as athletes return home.
Ensuring that their sporting hero Letsile Tebogo is given their due diligence and celebrated in style after etching his name in the Olympics and sports history books, the Batswana came together to paint the streets of Gabrone blue, white and black and filled up the National Stadium to celebrate in true African style, a massive party.
More than 30,000 people filled Botswana’s national stadium to welcome home the 4x100m relay team and Letsile Tebogo, who won the country’s first Olympic gold medal ? pic.twitter.com/90lLzHZ6OI
— ESPN Africa (@ESPNAfrica) August 13, 2024
Letsile deserves this extravagant display of appreciation from his countrymen, as he defeated the best active sprinters in the men’s 200m race, which he finished in a dashing 19.46 seconds, smashing his own African record. He also was a part of the 4x200m relay team that secured a silver medal for the SADC country. He revealed in a press conference that he lost his mother earlier this year and that he was dedicating his Olympic medal to honouring her memory.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi took the executive decision to give Batswana not one but two public holidays to properly celebrate this momentous achievement by their young athletes in a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter).
“The president underscores, recognizes and acknowledges Letsile’s performance and achievement as markedly outstanding, and deserving of the nation to pause and celebrate him in a most unique, appropriate and responsible manner, that will be etched in the annals of the history of the Republic,” the statement read.
— Dr. Mokgweetsi E.K Masisi (@OfficialMasisi) August 9, 2024
Also see: Tatjana Smith wins SA’s first gold at 2024 Paris Olympics
