‘I do not think it will take long’ - Letsile Tebogo shares when he wants to break Usain Bolt’s world record

Olympics 200m champion Letsile Tebogo is giving himself three more years before he attempts to break Usain Bolt’s world record.

The world record has stood for 15 years since legendary Jamaican sprinter Bolt set a new mark of 19.19 at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin with many sprinters coming short since.

Some have even said it would be ‘impossible’ to break it but Tebogo is considered among those who could attempt the record given his meteoric rise.

The optimism comes from Tebogo’s recent form which saw him win the Olympics gold in a new personal best time of 19.46, which is 0.27 short of Bolt’s record, and the sprinter is backing himself to do it but not so soon.

“I see it [world record] but I do not want to put myself under that pressure of trying to break the world record but if it comes, it will come eventually,” Tebogo told The Inside Lane after posting 19.64 to win the 200m race at the Lausanne Diamond League on Thursday.

“We do not have to push it this year or next year. Probably when we are 24 is when we could attempt something like that but I do not think it will take long, looking at what I did today [in Lausanne] and in the 200m final [at Olympics].

“I could see it, it is about 10m away from me but we will see what we could do about it.”

At 21, Tebogo has plenty of time to attempt the world record and is perhaps under less pressure than some his rivals such as Noah Lyles, who is six years older.

Lyles has the third fastest time in history over the distance with his 19.31 recorded at the Eugene Diamond League in July 22, behind Jamaican Yohane Blake, whose time of 19.26 was clocked in Brussels, in September 2011.

Tebogo’s time is the fifth fastest of all-time behind American legend Michael Johnson, who timed 19.32, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.