When Letsile Tebogo set the world 300m best of 30.69 back in February, it didn’t exactly send shockwaves through the Western track and field world. “Nobody runs that event,” at least one person definitely quipped, before we all collectively moved on. We already knew Tebogo was fast – he had two World Championship medals to prove it. So what? Well, consider this the America-centric track world’s mea culpa: that off-distance world best was a warning shot, and proof of the work the Botswana sprint star had been putting in to get stronger. Say it with us now: Letsile Tebogo, Olympic 200m gold medalist!

Tebogo simply ran away with the thing in 19.46. Behind him, Kenny Bednarek turned in the sort of elite 200m equivalent to a workmanlike performance he’s become known for, finishing second in 19.62. Noah Lyles – the near unanimous favorite coming in – crossed next in 19.70.

Here’s what you need to know:

- Tebogo ran a damn near perfect race. Running out of lane seven, he exploded out of the blocks and despite posting the third slowest reaction time of the field, had seized the lead 10m in. Bednarek ran a slightly stronger bend, and at the 100m split, held a .02 second advantage, but Tebogo really began to pour it on along the home stretch, and from 120m on, it was clear he would be the champion.

- Bednarek, now a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 200m, came within .03 seconds of his personal best. It’s hard to find fault with anything he did or didn’t do during the race – or any 200m race he ran in Paris, for that matter. Tebogo simply was the class of the field today.

- Noah Lyles didn’t quite look like the Noah Lyles most of us probably expected. After losing to Tebogo in their heat of the semis, prevailing wisdom was that the reigning World champion in the event was keeping things controlled and would dial up the intensity for the final. Instead, Lyles got out reasonably well, settled into third position, and never left it.

- It was revealed after the race that Lyles raced both the semifinal and final while ill with COVID. Lyles, who pulled off something of a shocker by out-leaning Kishane Thompson for 100m gold on Sunday night, tested positive early Tuesday morning. Lyles said on his Instagram after the race that he “believes this will be the end of my 2024 Olympics,” meaning an appearance in the 4x100m final seems unlikely.

- Tebogo’s 19.46 clocking is the fastest in the world this year. Lyles’s 19.53, which he ran at the U.S. Trials, is the second fastest. Even with a healthy Lyles on the starting line, Tebogo could still very well have won this race. He wasn’t challenged at all coming down the home stretch, and Lyles had to go to the well to secure his victory in the 100m.

Here’s what they said:

“When I first heard the news, I thought my career was over. I started to find ways of forgetting about athletics. The team that was around me — my coach, my teammates — they made sure that I took each and every day one step at a time.”

- Letsile Tebogo on handling the loss of his mother in May.

“It’s the coaches, those who are dedicated to do their work and being passionate about what they want to do. So they’ll help you go through every step of the way until you make it. Like how we didn’t have any 400m hurdlers ever, but the coaches make sure we have at least one in the Olympics and hopefully for the coming years we’ll see more, not just the 100m, 200m and 400m runners. And also see the women coming back, they’re getting better and better each and every day.”

- Tebogo on what makes Botswana athletics special.

“It definitely affected my performance, I’ve had to take a lot of breaks. Junelle [his girlfriend] was saying I was coughing through the night last night. I thought I had a good night’s sleep, but she said she had to keep moving me throughout the night to make sure I would stop coughing. It definitely was an effect, but to be honest I’m more proud of myself than anything.”

- Noah Lyles on the effect his COVID diagnosis had on his performance.

By the numbers:

- Letsile Tebogo is now the fifth fastest man ever over 200m, and he’s in pretty elite company in terms of who’s ahead of him: Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Noah Lyles, and Michael Johnson. His time from today is tied – with a performance by Noah Lyles in Monaco two years ago – for the ninth fastest of all time.

- Tebogo broke his own Botswana and African area records.

- Tebogo’s gold medal is the third Olympic medal ever, across all sports, for Botswana.

- Today’s result makes it two consecutive Olympic 200m finals in which Kenny Bednarek took home silver, Noah Lyles claimed bronze, and Erriyon Knighton finished fourth. Andre De Grasse of Canada won it in Tokyo. Usain Bolt is the only man in modern Olympic history to win more than one gold medal in the 200m – he won three: in 2008, 2012, and 2016.

Full results:

1. 🇧🇼Letsile Tebogo - 19.46 AR

2. 🇺🇲Kenny Bednarek - 19.62

3. 🇺🇲Noah Lyles - 19.70

4. 🇺🇲Erriyon Knighton - 19.99

5. 🇩🇴Alexander Ogandu - 20.02

6. 🇿🇼Tapiwanashe Makarawu - 20.10

7. 🇱🇷Joseph Fahnbulleh - 20.15

8. 🇿🇼Makanakaishe Charamba - 20.53

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