Letsile Tebogo fires shots at Noah Lyles after 200m upset: 'I'm not an arrogant or a loud person'

Ahead of the 200-meter dash at the 2024 Paris Olympics, all eyes were on Noah Lyles. The U.S. sensation was fresh off a thrilling 100-meter victory and sought to become the first American to complete the double-gold since Carl Lewis in 1984.

Lyles, however, fell short and took bronze as Letsile Tebogo took the gold in the race. It later came out Lyles ran while dealing with COVID-19, receiving a diagnosis on Tuesday. Still, he ran out with his usual fire ahead of the race.

Afterward, Tebogo was asked if he could become the face of athletics. The star sprinter from Botswana explained why Lyles has that title and why he, as a result, couldn’t be.

“For me, I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah,” Tebogo said of Lyles. “So I believe Noah is the face of athletics.”

Letsile Tebogo was asked after winning the men's 200m final if he aspires to world records and being the face of track and field.

Here was his answer:

"I can't be the face of athletics because I'm not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah (Lyles)."#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/HzafPb1kaM

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) August 8, 2024

Tebogo took home the gold medal in the 200-meter final, logging a time of 19.46 to do so. American Kenneth Bednarek won silver at 19.62, and Lyles rounded out the podium with a 19.70 to seal the bronze.

It was quite the upset for Tebogo, who missed out on the podium in the 100-meter dash which Lyles won by 0.05 second. As for Lyles, his status for the 4×100-meter relay – set for Friday – is in question after his COVID-19 diagnosis.

“At the moment, I don’t know,” Lyles said on NBC after the 200-meter final. “Right now I’m feeling more on the side of letting Team USA do their thing. They’ve proven with great certainty they can handle it without me. If that’s the case coming off today, then I’m perfectly fine saying, ‘Hey, you guys go do your thing. You guys have got more than enough speed to handle it and get the gold medal.’”

Lyles’ electric personality has been on full display during the 2024 Paris Olympics. His passion was on full display during his introductions ahead of both the 100m and 200m finals as he looked to cement himself as the fastest man in the world.

Despite battling COVID-19, Lyles planned on racing in the 200m. He had no plans to back out despite his diagnosis.

No. I didn’t,” Lyles told NBC’s Lewis Johnson. “We were just going to try and quarantine as much as possible, stay away. Not trying to pass it off and just, to be honest, give it my all. If I wasn’t to make it, somebody definitely would have taken my spot and that would have been my sign that I didn’t deserve to be in the final.”