Gaborone — Two mouth-watering fixtures that feature Botswana’s finest sprinter, Letsile Tebogo await athletics fans this weekend.
Tebogo will line up against some of the best in the world at the Monaco Diamond League meet tonight and London Diamond League meet on Sunday.
In Monaco, Tebogo will be competing in 100m, sharing track with Courtney Lindsey (USA), Ferdinand Omanyala (Kenya), Akani Simbine (South Africa), Joshua Hartmann (Germany), as well as the Jamaican trio Kishane Thompson, Ackeem Blake and Yohan Blake.
He will switch to 200m on Sunday, lining up against Americans, Erriyon Knighton, and Noah Lyles.
While the athletics world has been yearning for this clash, Tebogo’s coach Kebonyemodisa Mosimanyane said the sprinter was not under any pressure.
“He is in very good spirits” he Mosimanyane said.
Also turning for the 200m event will be Jona Efoloko (Germany), Joseph Fahnbulleh (Liberia), Hughes Zharnel (Great Britain), Kyree King (USA) and Alexander Ogando (the Dominican Republic).
Mosimanyane said the two races within a space of two days was a way of preparing for the World Championships, as well as collecting points for the Diamond League finals.
He said at the World Championships, Tebogo’s first 100m heat race would be on August 19 and the following day he would be running both the semi-finals and the finals.
Mosimanyane said two days after the 100m, he would be competing in the 200m, adding that the programme was similar with that one of 100m.
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“So making him to run 100m on Friday and 200m on Sunday is a good preparation for the World Championships. We want him to face the situation of running two races in a short time before Budapest,” he said.
Commenting on the weekend’s clashes, Sunday Standard sport editor, Botlhale Koothopile said since in less than a month, Tebogo would be competing in the short sprints at the World Championships, it was good for him to race against competitors of high calibre to see how he measured against them.
He said weekend races would demonstrate how ready Tebogo was for the World Championships.
Koothopile said for him, the more interesting race to look forward to was the 200m, adding that Tebogo would be facing an upcoming specialist in the form of Knighton as well as his compatriot Lyles.
He said at 19-years-old, Knighton would be Tebogo’s competitor for a very long time, adding that both were regarded as the best short sprints prospects since Usain Bolt left the scene.
Koothopile said the duo were also regarded as potential faces of athletics, hence the race would be a showcase to the world what the future of short sprints looked like.
Meanwhile, Leungo Scotch will also compete in the 400m in London against Dutch sprinter Liemarvin Bonevacia, USA’s Bryce Deadmon, Ryan Willie, and Vernon Norwood, Great Britain athletes Alex Haydock-Wilson and Matthew Hudson-Smith, and South Africa’s Wayde Van Niekerk.
BOPA
