What happens when a reigning Olympic Champion suddenly slows down? The world watches with raised eyebrows! Something similar has been happening with Letsile Tebogo in 2025. This should have been the year when the track and field community wondered: Will Tebogo beat Noah Lyles in 2025, too? Instead, it’s turning out to be the one where they are watching the Botswana sprinter Tebogo lose ground. While the concrete reason for his slowdown remains unknown, Justin Gatlin, the American track veteran, has now backed Tebogo, citing a few probabilities.

Letsile Tebogo’s 100m times this year have been blowing hot and cold. Particularly of late, as the Paris Olympics 200m champion Tebogo clocked 10.20s for a seventh finish at the Xiamen Diamond League 2025. He was a whole 0.21s short of the winning time, which placed him nearly at the end of the table. You think that was a one-off? Well, just a week later, the Botswanan ran a 10.03 at the Yangtze River Delta Athletics Diamond Gala, finishing third. He was on the podium, but the bronze added to the narrative about his fluctuating form. However, Justin Gatlin, the man who knows the track world inside out, has cited reasons backing Tebogo. Want to know what they are?

On the Ready Set Go podcast uploaded on May 8, Justin Gatlin talked about Letsile Tebogo’s recent times while saying, “Tebogo ran 10.20 the last race, now he has come back and ran 10.03 this race, and that goes to show you don’t know what people are going through.” The veteran continued explaining, “You don’t know if they have a stomach bug, or if they jetlagged, or you know he’s still feeling you know the residuals of his mother passing.

For Tebogo, his mother’s passing in 2024 had been a big blow. He had previously confessed that knowing of his mother’s illness in April “just took over everything from” him. Yet he put on a brave show, winning the first-ever Olympic medal for his nation. But that barely means he has healed on the inside. So maybe he’s fighting some demons that we are unaware of. Thus, Gatlin connected Letsile Tebogo’s recent inconsistent 100m times with the possibility of athletes facing issues on the inside that remain unbeknownst to the fans. “There’s a lot that can go into athletes heads and hearts before they line up….” opined Justin Gatlin.

Well, that’s true. Some athletes come back from injuries. Some run with lingering pressures. And yet none of that shows on the forefront. Letsile Tebogo himself is an example. When he ran his season opener at the BAA track and field series in February, he was under a high fever, but still showed up in flats just for the fans who had come to see him. So while people could feel that he came in a questionable second in his season opener, the underlying fever had a role to play, and not many knew of it until Tebogo confessed about the same.

However, Justin Gatlin sees hope. It may just be a matter of time before the Botswanan gets in prime form. Gatlin continued, “Watching go from a 10.20 down to a 10.03, that tells me, oh, he good, he going to be good.” Gatlin even said, “We know Tebogo, like his reservoir of talent is deep and it seems like if he just puts his mind to it, it’s possible whatever he does.” And so, going sub-10 is surely next on the cards for Tebogo. But before that, he faces another blow in the 2025 season.

Letsile Tebogo faces another setback in 2025

Letsile Tebogo and the Botswana Athletics Association have pulled off a shock move. In the late hours of Monday, the BAA announced that three of their star athletes, Tebogo, Bayapo Ndori, and Colleb Kebinatshipi, have withdrawn from the World Athletics Relays coming up this weekend in Guangzhou. They cited personal reasons to back the decision. This is a huge blow as last year, in the Bahamas, Tebogo was part of the 4x400m winning relay team at the World Relays. Thus, while a few fans said that they were ‘wretched and disappointed’ with the news, here’s what Tebogo has to say about it.

Letsile Tebogo clarified his stand on the World Relays withdrawal. He said, “I wish to clarify that my withdrawal was not a decision taken lightly, nor without due consideration and engagement with relevant stakeholders. As stated, a personal decision was made in the best interest of all parties involved, and in full alignment with my long-term goals as a professional athlete,” Tebogo even added, “I remain fully committed to my country, the team, and the advancement of athletics in Botswana,” while urging his countrymen to rally behind their team with the same enthusiasm as before.

Clearly, dark clouds continue to loom over him this season. What do you think about this? Let us know below!