President Mokgweetsi Masisi announced a half-day holiday for Tuesday afternoon as Botswana prepared to welcome sprinter Letsile Tebogo and his historic 200m gold medal. This marks the first Olympic gold for the southern African nation.
The Botswana Olympic team was scheduled to return on Tuesday, bringing home Tebogo’s gold medal and a silver in the men’s 4x400m relay, increasing the country’s Olympic medal count to four.
At 21, Tebogo made history as the first African to win the men’s 200m with a record-breaking time of 19.46 seconds, surpassing American competitors Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles in Paris on August 8.
On August 9, President Masisi granted a half-day holiday to Botswana’s 2.3 million citizens to honor the country’s Olympic achievement. A government announcement revealed that the president would be present at the airport to welcome the Olympic team.
Letsile Tebogo has made history as the second African to win an Olympic medal in the men’s 200m, joining Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks, who earned silver in 1996.
Botswana’s Olympic success began with Nijel Amos winning silver in the 800m at the London 2012 Games. The country’s men’s 4x400m relay team also secured bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
