Letsile Tebogo Had To Make A Painful Decision Involving Late Mother, Says Coach

At the Paris Olympics, Letsile Tebogo turned a packed stadium into a stage for history, sprinting past Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek to capture the 200-meter crown. His triumph, however, carried a private weight. The loudest voice in his life, his mother Seratiwa, was absent. She had passed away only weeks before, leaving the 20-year-old to celebrate his greatest achievement without her in the stands. The victory was bittersweet, shaped as much by loss as by glory. And behind it stood a story his coach later revealed in stark detail.

Seratiwa had long been the cornerstone of Tebogo’s rise. A former athlete who later worked as a secretary, she raised him alone and believed more in his sporting path than in traditional academic success. “It’s Africa before Botswana, so we are really thri