Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo took a dig at American sprinter Noah Lyles after besting him for gold in the 200-meter final at the 2024 Olympics last Thursday.
Tebogo’s compatriots took things even further upon his triumphant return home.
During a celebration for Tebogo on Tuesday in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital, a man in a Tebogo outfit pushed a man in a Lyles get-up in a wheelchair, video posted on social media shows.
The pair mocked Lyles for having to be wheeled off the track following the 200-meter race.
Lyles, who took bronze, ran the race with COVID and was struggling afterward, laying down on the track as he tried to catch his breath.
Tebogo addressed the outspoken Lyles during a press conference after the race.
“I think for me, I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or loud person like Noah,” Tebogo said.
Lyles drew the ire of NBA stars last year when he said that the league’s champions weren’t world champions.
“You know the thing that hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘world champion’ on they head. World champion of what? The United States?” Lyles said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the US – at times – but that ain’t the world.”
Lyles, 27, won gold in the 100-meter final in a thrilling photo finish, coming from behind to edge Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five one-thousandths of a second.
More than 30,000 people packed the Botswana National Stadium to welcome Tebogo and the country’s other Olympians home, per ESPN.
Tebogo was also part of Botswana’s 4×400 men’s relay team that took silver (the U.S. won gold) along with Busang Kebinatshipi, Bayapo Ndori and Anthony Pesela.