Modest Amount Letsile Tebogo Took Home From Rollercoaster World Athletics Championships

Letsile Tebogo endured one of the toughest outings at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, that ended on Sunday, September 21.

The reigning Olympic 200m champion went into the championship, hoping to improve his performance from the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, but the opposite happened.

At the 2023 World Championships, he claimed a silver medal in the men’s 100m and bronze in the 200m. In Tokyo, Letsile Tebogo was disqualified for a false start in the men’s 100m, and he finished fourth in the men’s 200m.

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But there was joy on the final day of the championship, as Letsile Tebogo helped Botswana’s 4x400m relay team secure gold.

The Olympic silver medallist, following his disqualification from the men’s 100m final, did not earn anything as World Athletics only rewards those who reach the final and finish among the top eight.

The winners walk away with US$70,000, with those who finish second, third and fourth earning US$35,000, US$22,000 and US$16,000.

The athletes who finish the race in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth will pocket US$11,000, US$7,000, US$6,000 and US$5,000. For finishing fourth in the men’s 200m, Letsile Tebogo earned US$16,000.

In the relay, World Athletics announced that the top eight relay teams in the final would also be awarded, with the winners walking away with US$80,000.

The teams that complete the podium will pocket US$40,000 and US$20,000, respectively. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh place finishers will bag US$16,000, US$12,000, US$8,000 and US$6,000. Those who cross the finish line in eighth will earn US$4000.

Letsile Tebogo started his 2025 season with a series of 400m races before making his Diamond League debut in Xiamen, where he finished seventh in the men’s 100m. He then finished third in the men’s 100m at the Diamond League Meeting in Keqiao.

In Doha, Letsile Tebogo won the 100m before finishing ninth in the 100m at the Diamond League Meeting in Rabat. He later announced that he had been dealing with an injury and would take a short break.

Letsile Tebogo went ahead to win the 200m in 19.76 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic and then finished second in the 200m behind Noah Lyles in Monaco.

He would then finish seventh in the 100m at the Diamond League Meeting in London and second in the 200m at the final in Zurich before heading to the World Athletics Championships.