Sports

Olympic hero Tebogo gets heroic welcome in Botswana

Published

4 weeks ago

August 14, 2024

Botswana’s Olympics 200m gold medalist, Letsile Tebogo, was on Tuesday given a heroic welcome on his return to the tiny Southern African nation after stunning the world to win country’s first ever Olympic gold medal.

Tens of thousands of his countrymen led by President Mokgweetsi Masisi thronged the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone to welcome the 21-year-old who defeated favourites Americans, Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles, in Paris to win the 200m race.

Rapturous supporters waved the country’s blue-and-black national flag as the Olympic team touched down in the capital, while the athletes paraded around the National Stadium on a rooftop bus, waving at fans enjoying a half-day holiday declared by the president to celebrate Tebogo’s success.

President Masisi led the dance by exhibiting some of his own moves, dancing on the tarmac as an aide held an umbrella to shelter him from the sun to celebrate Tebogo and who set an African record time of 19.46 seconds, as well as leading the country’s men’s 4x400m relay team to a silver at the Olympics.

Traditional dancers wearing animal skins and beads were also at the airport and stadium to welcome the team who won a total of four medals.

From the airport, the athletes were transported to greet a much bigger crowd at the national stadium.

After winning the 200m, Tebogo had dedicated his gold medal to his mother Seratiwa, who died in May after a brief illness, and held up his spikes, displaying her date of birth, to the camera, following his victory.

“It is basically me carrying her through every stride that I take inside the field,” Tebogo had said.

“To take her with me, it gives me a lot of motivation. She’s watching up there, and she’s really, really happy,” he added.

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Sports

Double tragedy as ex-boyfriend who set Ugandan Olympian on fire also dies

Published

2 hours ago

September 10, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The former boyfriend of Ugandan Olympian athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after he set her on fire, has himself died after succumbing to burns he also sustained in the fire.

An official at the Kenyan hospital where he was being treated told reporters that Dickson Ndiema died on Monday night at the intensive care unit where he had been admitted with more than 30% burns.

Cheptegei had succumbed to death last Thursday a few days after Ndiema had allegedly doused her with petrol and set her on fire following a disagreement which local administrators say had to do with a small piece of land in north-west Kenya, where Cheptegei lived and trained.

Cheptegei who lived in the western Trans-Nzoia County in Kenya, and competed for Uganda in the Discovery 10km Road Race and finished in the 44th position in the 2024 Paris Olympics, was reportedly attacked in her house in by her boyfriend identified as Ndiema who doused her with fuel and set her on fire.

Trans Nzoia County Police Commander, Jeremiah ole Kosiom, said that Cheptegei’s boyfriend bought a jerry can of petrol, poured it on her and set her ablaze.

“Ndiema also sustained burn wounds, although they are less severe, and is receiving treatment at the same hospital,” the police Commander said.

“Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter bought land in Trans Nzoia to be near the many athletic training centres in the county,” he added.

Sports

‘The police neglected sign of violence,’ father of murdered Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei opens up

Published

20 hours ago

September 9, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The bereaved father of Ugandan Olympian, Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after her estranged boyfriend set her on fire, has blamed police in the Trans Nzoia County of Kenya for ignoring earlier signs of domestic violence against his daughter and not arresting the situation early enough before his daughter was killed.

Joseph Cheptegei who spoke on the death of his daughter in a cruel fashion, said the police failed to deal with issue early enough even after being aware of the situation.

Joseph said the horrific incident was a culmination of a dispute that had been there for many months with the athlete nearly killed by the ex-boyfriend before she escaped early this year.

“In February, they had a dispute and this guy wanted to hack my daughter and she had to run away. We reported the matter to the police,” the father told NTV.

“It reached a point she realised this guy was just taking money from her and she didn’t see the benefit of the relationship. So, she decided to do her things privately because the guy wanted to be in charge of everything, which she declined.

“When the issue went to police, the guy wanted to take her property by force. He got married to someone else and even brought her here.

“If the government had responded well, she would not have died because the signs were there for long,” he said.

Cheptegei, who represented Uganda in marathon at the Paris 2024 Olympics, was born on the Kenyan side of the Kenya-Uganda border but decided to cross over to the neigbouring country to realise her athletics dream due to the stiff competition in Kenya.

She joined the Uganda’s People Defence Forces in 2008 and rose through the rank to sergeant as she represented Uganda in various competitions.