Letsile Tebogo dusted Noah Lyles in the 200-meter final at the Olympics on Thursday ― and didn’t run from a blunt assessment of the American afterward.
Asked if he aspired to be the face of track and field like the celebrity-seeking Lyles, Tebogo said in a video of the exchange:
“For me, I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or loud person like Noah. So I believe Noah’s the face of athletics.”
American Kenny Bednarek, who took silver in the race, grinned at the remark.
After winning the 100-meter gold, Lyles promised to leave his adversaries “depressed” on the home straight of the 200. But Tebogo beat Lyles, who announced after the race that he had COVID-19, by plenty. Lyles later congratulated Tebogo on social media.
Lyles ran his mouth earlier in the Games by suggesting he could take the place of Quincy Hall, who would become the 400-meter Olympic champion, on the 4X400 relay.
