Friendly Rivals: Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo opens up on relationship with Noah Lyles

Months after his viral face of athletics 'arrogant' statement on Noah Lyles, Botswana's Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo has clarified how his intentions was misunderstood on the American track star.

The 21-year-old rose to global recognition at the Paris Olympic Games, after defeating the American duo of Kenny Bednarek and Lyles in the men's 200m final, clocking a new African Record of 19.46s.

With his feat, he became Africa and Botswana's first Olympic gold medallist in sprint history - one that propelled him as a role model in his country and the continent.

Interestingly, after his 200m victory in Paris, Tebogo said he could not become the face of athletics as he is not an "arrogant and loud" person like Lyles, who won 100m gold at the Games.

His statement went viral, with most fans supporting his bold claims and asserting that Lyles' extravagant personality does not deserve such bragging rights as the face of athletics.

Tebogo has now clarified those comments and says the pair now have a friendly relationship.

"When you get on to the track, it's all about business," he said as quoted by BBC Sports. "When we finish, we become friends and then life goes on."

However, Tebogo reiterated that Lyles still deserves to be the face of athletics as he has the personality that best fits it.

"But the 'arrogance'... he's good to sell our sport because he knows what to do. But with me, I'll always shy away from doing that because that's me."

Tebogo's Olympic exploits brought Botswana to a standstill, with a national holiday announced to celebrate his feat and tens of thousands of people greeting him on his return.

In addition to his 200m gold, he anchored Botswana to a 4x400m relay silver medal in Paris behind the United States and was named 2024 World Athlete of the Year.

The sprint duo will rekindle their rivalry as the 2025 season progresses, especially at the Tokyo World Championships in September, where Tebogo will be gunning to dethrone Lyles as the 100m and 200m world champion.