Claimed bronze with Covid, and made very nice comments about the USA relay, faith that they can do their thing without him, etc.
Totally professional, gracious, and accepting.
Haters go home devastated.
Peacock coverage was more interested in showing Lyles' Emmy-level heaving performance on the ground than Tebogo or Kenny B. Love Lyles, but that was clown behavior. All that talk that the 200m is your event. You lose, regardless of the circumstances, you get up and congratulate your compatriot at the very least.
He actually did congratulate both Taboo and Kenny in a very classy manner, then commenced his fainting-dying-whatever-that-was act.
the new way to get out of a glowing sample...."oh im sick with covid"....and then take the 1.5-2yr silent shadow ban....100% guarantee he tested hot and this is the best way to sweep it under the rug. he wont run again this year, he will claim he has some vague injury he got from trying to run with covid. then no indoor, then in the spring he will pull out of meets claiming a nagging injury still, no indoor again then come back out spring 2026 he will struggle with 20.2-20.5 and never again get under 19.90's
I simply can’t root for a guy who is more interested in putting on a show and “transcending track and field” than taking care of business and respecting his competition. And now he fakes illness to save face. Even if he is sick, I wouldn’t have waited until afterwards to say something. I didn’t like it either when Jakob did the same thing. It would be more badass to say “yeah I’m sick but I’m still coming for everybody in that final tomorrow” than all the antics he puts on to make us think he’s super confident.
I am not convinced he would've beaten Tebogo without COVID. Admittedly, he would’ve beaten Bednarek without COVID, but I made my prediction largely from his semi
It would have been really close like it was in Paris last year. Shame we were denied an epic final due to illness. Maybe Lindsey should stay on anchor for the 4x100. He looked great in the heats. Great run by Tebogo. He performed to the max. Knighton on the other hand…
It's just about time to pack it in, having been proven correct on this board so many times.
Tebogo is the latest. I wrote about him years ago on LR, and picked him for this win.
IMO Lyles wouldn't have won if healthy. Tebogo would have gone 19.40 running through the line, and it's hard to see Lyles getting there with all the attention he has been getting, and the rounds. Tebogo's mom dying was a wrench in the gears, but he has recovered mightily. He's just so easy, he's one of the most relaxed sprinters I have ever seen, maybe THE most relaxed. Just lets it flow. NICE! Ackbar's second 100 was super-relaxed, but in a different way. He went 9.20, which is supreme--but, he was Ackbar, so fuhgeddaboudit.
And that Botswana 4x4 is no joke. He could probably make that team, too. IDK, will he run the final for them?
Tebogo, nicely done. Combine Tebogo's last 75 in the 100 with Holloway's first 25, and you've probably got 9.6
Question is, can he get the 200m WR? Flake essentially got it, so it's possible--but I could see Tebogo excelling in the 400, like Ackbar, if he chose to do so. Yeah there's a world of difference between a 300 and a 400, but the talent is there.