Toro Tebogo: ‘Letsile has never been like other kids, he was quick to sit, quick to walk, and even quick to talk’

Toro Tebogo, the grandmother of Olympic 200m champion and African record holder, Letsile Tebogo says her grandson has never never been like other kids.

She says he was quick to sit, quick to walk, and even quick to talk.

‘The name Letsile means ‘luck has arrived in our family’. We were so excited when he was born that there was so much joy. We prayed to God for blessings, that he achieves everything he wanted in life.

‘He was always an active boy, always having something to do. When he was young, I couldn’t pick that he was going to be a sprinter until he was at school. Now he is an Olympic champion, I am so excited,’ the proud grandmother told Botswana news outlet, www.mmegi.bw.

Letsile Tebogo’s aunt, Boitseo Tebogo also revealed the 21-year-old was a hyperactive child.

‘E ne ele letsetse (troublesome), always being called to order and he didn’t stay in one place for long. When you reprimand him, he will do something else. He was a young boy, when he was here, we never stopped shouting, but he was entertaining,’ she said but revealed the family was not surprised by his speed.

‘We weren’t surprised by his speed, but we were shocked by his ability to keep his lane from the beginning to the end. He then came to school at Kids Academy in Kanye, that is where he was active in athletics, including long and middle-distance races,’ she said.