Letsile Tebogo surpasses Wayde van Niekerk and Usain Bolt to emerge new World Record holder

Botswana's speedster Letsile Tebogo announced himself as a major contender for the Olympic title in Paris after surpassing Wayde van Niekerk and Usain Bolt's times for a new 300m World Record.

Tebogo clocked an outstanding 30.69s at the Simbine Curro Classic in South Africa to break Van Niekerk's previous WR of 30.81s set in 2017.

For context, it smashed Michael Johnson's 30.85s in 2000 and Bolt's 30.97s in 2010, who went on to clock below 19.35s in the 200m in the later stages of their careers.

It has now made the Botswana youngster a top contender for the Olympic 200m title in Paris, firing a warning ahead to world champion Noah Lyles that he won't have it easy after all and may have to wait longer for his first Olympic title.

Tebogo made history last year at the world championships in Budapest, where he became the first African male sprinter ever to win a medal (silver) in the 100m and 200m bronze at the championship.