Olympic 200m champion underlines the power of sport as he becomes ambassador for World Athletics programme

Letsile Tebogo knows first hand just how powerful sport can be. Not only has the Olympic 200m champion seen and experienced the life-changing effects of his golden performance in Paris last summer, but he also admits that pursuing athletics in the first place saved him from a life of crime.

"Sport has really helped me a lot because I think that, without it ... probably I would be a criminal by now," said the 21-year-old. "In the neighbourhood where I grew up there were a lot of criminals, it was the only way to survive.

"But then with sport I knew I had to go to school and from school to training and with that you are tired. You don't have time to roam the streets and go into people's houses.

"So once I discovered that I tried to pull in a few friends of mine ... and now they are playing football. We always talk about if this didn't work out, where would we be?”

He added: “I'm now happy to see a lot of kids and people of my age trying to venture into something, because now it means the crime rates are reducing in the country as a lot of youngsters are the ones that are committing those crimes.”

The thought of helping the next generation to follow a similar path to him was at the forefront of Tebogo’s mind as he spoke to a group of reporters via video call from Botswana on Wednesday (April 2). Following the interview, the World Athlete of the Year met with around 1000 children – including pupils from his old primary school – on the grounds where he used to train.

He was speaking at the announcement of him becoming an ambassador for World Athletics’ Kids’ Athletics programme, an initiative with the aim of inspiring children across the world to be more active. Tebogo will also take part in the Relay Around the World Challenge ahead of this year’s Kids’ Athletics Day – which will take place on May 7.

The World Championships 100m silver medallist didn’t start out with athletics ambitions.

"I was more of a footballer, a left-winger,” he said, before adding: “The teachers at my primary school forced me into athletics.

"[Athletics] wasn't that popular in Botswana back then, until the Commonwealth Games of 2018. From my side I just wanted to see where it would take me. Athletics was just a part-time thing for me."

It’s to athletics’ great benefit that he stuck with it and Tebogo heads into this new outdoor season with a higher profile than ever before. He has competed four times so far in 2025, all over 400m, most recently coming second to compatriot Bayapo Ndori at the Maurie Plant Meeting in Melbourne.

It won’t be long before his focus returns to the shorter sprints, however, and he will be in action over 200m at the Golden Grand Prix in Botswana on April 12. The year will culminate in the World Championships in September and there is much anticipation about the resumption of Tebogo’s rivalry with Olympic 100m and three-time world 200m champion Noah Lyles.

The American had been favourite to take gold over the half-lap contest in Paris but finished third as Tebogo became his nation’s first ever Olympic champion and the fifth-fastest man in history with his winning time of 19.46. It later emerged that Lyles had tested positive for Covid.

In the post-race press conference last August Tebogo stated he could not be the new face of athletics because he was not "an arrogant or loud person like Noah". However, he insisted the pair get on well and clarified those remarks.

“When you get onto the track, it's all about business,” he said. "When you finish, you can be friends, life goes on. But the 'arrogance' [of Lyles]... he is good for selling our sport. But, with me, I'll always shy away from doing that because that's me.

"Everybody who's there on the line-up is a rival. You cannot eliminate somebody because he didn't perform well at the 2024 Olympics or 2023 World Championships.”

Visit here for more information on World Athletics’ Kids Athletics Programme