- An Olympic gold medallist wasted no time saving people trapped in high waters
- He used his car to great effect to come to the aid of his country’s people
An Olympic gold medallist answered the call of duty as he rescued cars of people who had been caught in flooding.
Letsile Tebogo became Botswana’s first-ever gold medallist last summer when he shocked Noah Lyles and won the 200m.
But he proved he still had humility as he came to the aid of people in the flooded capital of Gaborone after heavy rain.
Homes and businesses have suffered widespread damage while roads and schools across the region have been closed.
Multiple cars got stuck in deep flooding in one of the capital’s roads, but luckily Tebogo, 21, was on hand with a plan.
He used his 4×4 Toyota Land Cruiser to tow the smaller vehicles backwards and out of the waters.
Letsile Tebogo, who won the 200m gold at the Paris Olympics, rescued people from flooding in his homeland of Botswana
‘As if we didn’t love him enough already,’ one fan wrote on X.
‘So proud of this young man!’ said another.
‘This is so presidential by Tebogo,’ one commented.
Tebogo created history over the summer when he became Botswana’s first Olympic gold medallist with an African record of 19.46s in the 200m.
Lyles had been widely fancied to claim the gold medal but ended up third behind Tebogo and Kenneth Bednarek.
In the aftermath of his triumph, Tebogo was asked whether he aspired to be the face of track and field, but claimed his more laid-back approach wouldn’t allow him to get to Lyles’ level of fame as he hit out at the American star.
‘For me, I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or loud person like Noah,’ he said.
‘So I believe Noah’s the face of athletics.’
The Botswana hero towed cars out of the deep waters in the country’s capital of Gaborone
Tebogo (right) called Noah Lyles ‘arrogant’ and ‘loud’ after beating the American sprinter
Lyles confirmed after the 200m race that he had COVID, and he was placed in a wheelchair
The remark caused Lyles’ USA teammate, Bednarek, to briefly crack a wry smile.
Lyles brashly predicted before the 200m that he would complete the double after winning gold in the 100m in a nail-biting finish.
‘None of them is winning. When I come off the turn, they will be depressed,’ he said.
However, that prediction aged poorly as Lyles labored to a third-place finish and was placed in a wheelchair moments after the race, clearly out of breath from his Covid diagnosis.
Tebogo also helped Botswana take home silver in the men’s 4x400m relay race, finishing behind the USA.
