The last time Letsile Tebogo was in Budapest, it was one of the proudest moments of his life. In 2023, the then 20-year-old won silver and bronze at the World Championships. However, the moment was more significant as his mother, Seratiwa Tebogo, made the trip to Europe to meet her son and see him perform at his first senior international tournament. Three years later, Tebogo is returning to Budapest for the World Athletics Ultimate Championships, but this time, his mother will not be cheering him on from the stands.

She passed away, leaving Tebogo to face the emotional return while carrying her memory with him. Now, as he prepares to return to the Hungarian capital on September 11, Tebogo said during a World Athletics virtual media briefing, “I haven’t really looked into the fact that I’m going now to Budapest without my mom not being there. It’s just been a bumpy ride, having to think about it and having to continue with the grind.”

Seratiwa died in May 2024 after battling cancer, just months after watching her son make history in Budapest. Her death came only three months before the Paris Olympics, where Tebogo was set to compete in his first Games. Yet, despite carrying the weight of that loss, Tebogo went on to produce the biggest performance of his career in Paris.

On August 8, 2024, he lined up for the men’s 200m final and stormed to Olympic gold in 19.46 seconds. The victory made him the first African man to win Olympic gold in the event and gave Botswana its first-ever Olympic gold medal. But Tebogo did not let the historic moment pass without honoring his mother.

Tebogo had his mother’s date of birth written on his racing spikes before the final. After crossing the finish line, he removed one of his shoes and showed it to the cameras as a tribute to Seratiwa.  “It’s basically me carrying her through every stride that I take,” he explained.

He deliberately chose her birth date instead of the date of her death because, as he put it, “I didn’t want to put the date of her death, because I’ll get emotional.” Her passing had been difficult for the young sprinter. He took time away from athletics to process the loss and admitted that accepting she was gone was not easy. “It wasn’t really clicking for me that she’s really gone,” Tebogo said.

Yet he persisted; his mother’s faith in him was a support he always had. “If she were here, I believe she could be one of the happiest people on the planet because she believed in me when I doubted myself,” he said. That belief helped carry him through Paris.

And now, Tebogo’s return to Budapest in 2026 carries a very different emotion.  “I believe the memories that we had in Budapest, they will still come again,” he said. After all, Tebogo’s road to stardom was a mother’s influence.

Seratiwa sacrificed her own dreams to support Letsile Tebogo’s journey

Before Letsile Tebogo became one of the biggest names in African sprinting, he was simply a hyperactive child growing up in Kanye, Botswana. He initially played football as a left winger and treated athletics as something he did at school. But his speed soon began to set him apart. He kept winning school competitions, became more serious about running and eventually chose to focus on athletics in 2019. Much of that journey was possible because of the guidance he received from his mother, Seratiwa Tebogo.

“She has been with me throughout the journey since she helped me decide to take part in being an athlete because I was more into football, but she guided me into the athletics path. She has been there since the journey started, and now it had to be cut short for her, but the journey still continues,” Tebogo said.

Seratiwa raised Letsile almost entirely by herself and remained closely involved in his career. She was already helping him when he was just a local boy. She went to his competitions even as he was in Primary School, including trips to Namibia to watch him compete. She had followed him to the 2022 World Championships in Oregon.

Seratiwa did much more than simply turn up in the stands. She spent years washing his training clothes, making sure he was fed and looking after him while he chased his dream. She even gave up some of her own travel plans with friends so she could be there for her son. She would joke about those sacrifices, calling his success her “return on investment.” But behind the humour was a mother who had spent years investing her time, energy, and love into her son’s journey.

Seratiwa’s influence was not limited to Tebogo’s career. At his mother’s funeral, Tebogo said, “I am going to miss the support and your prayers.” He remembered her for teaching him to give, be kind, care for others and never give up. Now, as Tebogo returns to Budapest without her, her presence remains part of the story he carries with him.