GABORONE: Botswana gave a rapturous welcome to Letsile Tebogo on Tuesday as the sprinter returned home with the southern African country’s first ever Olympic gold medal.

Families with children, elderly people and young supporters waved Botswana’s sky blue and black national flag as the Olympic team landed back in the capital Gaborone.

Hundreds of supporters had gathered at the small airport, benefiting from an impromptu half-day holiday declared by President Mokgweetsi Masisi to celebrate Tebogo’s success.

Before greeting the athletes, Masisi danced on the tarmac as an aide held an umbrella to shelter him from the sun.

Tebogo, 21, became the first African to win the men’s 200m, in an African record time of 19.46sec, when he powered past Americans Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles in Paris on Aug 8.

His gold as well as silver in the men’s 4x400m relay, boosted the country’s total Olympic medal tally to four.

Outside the airport, traditional dancers wearing animal skins and beads kicked off a welcoming ceremony that was to later continue at the national stadium.

Masisi had already granted the country of 2.3 million people half a day off to party on Aug 9.

Tebogo is only the second African athlete to win an Olympic medal in the men’s 200m, after Namibian Frankie Fredericks took silver in Atlanta in 1996.

Botswana won their first Olympic medal at the 2012 London Games when Nijel Amos took silver in the 800m. Its men’s 4x400m relay team took bronze at Tokyo 2020.

Botswana’s success at the Paris Olympics helped to raise Africa’s medal haul to 39, two more than at the Tokyo Games, with Kenya scooping 11 in the French capital.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2024