BUDAPEST — Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo returns to Budapest this week carrying more than medal ambitions.
The Botswana sprint star is back in the Hungarian capital for the World Athletics Ultimate Championships, the city where he shared one of the proudest moments of his young career with his late mother, Seratiwa.
Three years ago, Tebogo announced himself on the senior international stage at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, winning silver in the 100 metres and bronze in the 200m.
His mother was there to witness it.
Seratiwa had travelled to Europe to surprise her son and watch him compete at his first senior world championships.
Tebogo, then 20, became Botswana’s first medallist in either sprint at the championships and the first African man to win a 100m medal at the event. Nine months later, his mother died following a short illness.
Now, at 23, Tebogo is returning to the same city without the woman who watched him make history.
Speaking during a World Athletics virtual media briefing, Tebogo admitted that the emotional weight of the return had not fully registered with him until journalists raised the subject.
“I haven’t really looked into the fact that I’m going now to Budapest without my mom not being there,” he said.
“It’s just been a bumpy ride, having to think about it and having to continue with the grind.”
The loss came just weeks before the Paris 2024 Olympics, where Tebogo was preparing for his first Games.
He responded in remarkable fashion.
Tebogo won the Olympic 200m title in Paris in 19.46 seconds, becoming the first African man to win Olympic gold in the event.
His celebration carried a deeply personal message. After crossing the finish line, he removed his shoes and pointed towards the initials and date of birth of his mother, which were inscribed on his running gear.
For Tebogo, the memory of Seratiwa remains a source of strength rather than simply grief.
“I believe she’s always there with me in spirit,” he said.
“And in days where giving up is an option, she pushes me to give my absolute best.”
That connection will be tested again in Budapest, where Tebogo will line up in both the 100m and 200m from 11 to 13 September.
The Ultimate Championships brings together Olympic and world champions alongside the leading performers of the 2026 season, creating another major test for one of Africa’s brightest sprinting stars.
Tebogo believes returning to the scene of his breakthrough could also bring back happier memories.
“I believe the memories that we had in Budapest, they will still come again,” he said.
This time, however, he will have to relive them without his mother in the stands.
The sprint champion’s challenge is to turn that absence into motivation as he seeks another piece of history in the city where his international journey changed forever.
