Letsile Tebogo has clarified his “conceited” remark aimed toward Noah Lyles final summer time after beating the American to gold within the 200m race on the Paris Olympics.
Tebogo blazed to a time of 19.46 seconds within the Paris 200m ultimate, cementing himself because the fifth quickest man in historical past.
Three-time 200m world champion Lyles was the favorite for gold and appeared able to do the 100m and 200m dash double in his makes an attempt to turn into solely the second man to attain the feat this aspect of the millennium – the opposite being Usain Bolt in 2008, 2012, and 2016. However moments after crossing the end line in third, the American was taken away in a wheelchair earlier than later revealing he had COVID-19.
Tebogo received gold within the males’s 200m on the Paris 2024 Olympics
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Within the post-race press convention, Botswana’s solely Olympic champion raised eyebrows when he mentioned he couldn’t be the face of athletics as a result of he was not “an conceited or loud particular person like Noah”. Nevertheless, Tebogo has now insisted there isn’t any animosity between him and Lyles.
Lyles on the Paris 2024 Olympics
“Once you get onto the observe, it is all about enterprise,” mentioned Tebogo. “[But] once we end, you may be mates, life goes on.
“However the ‘vanity’ … he is good to promote our sport. With me, I am going to all the time shrink back from doing that as a result of that is me.”
With Lyles aiming to reassert his dominance over 200m on the World Championships in Tokyo this 12 months, Tebogo was requested about working with a goal on his again.
“All people who’s there on the line-up, it is a rival,” he mentioned.
“You can’t get rid of someone as a result of he did not carry out effectively on the 2024 Olympics or 2023 World Championships. It is a new 12 months, new beginnings, new objectives.
“It is a rivalry on the observe, after which off the observe, we’re human beings on the finish of the day.”