Star athlete Letsile Tebogo has testified about how sports gave him purpose and discipline during his younger years, drawing him away from deviance.

“Sport has helped me a lot because I think without it… probably I would be a criminal by now,” the new Global Ambassador for the Kids Athletics programme told the media on a video conference, Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

“In the neighbourhood where I grew up, crime was the only way to survive. But with sport, I knew I had to go to school, and after training, you’re too tired to roam the streets or break into houses.”

Given his experience, Tebogo encouraged friends from his childhood to take up sports, with some currently pursuing his first love, football.

“I was more of a footballer, a left-winger. My primary school teachers forced me into athletics,” he underlined.

The World Athletics-run Kids Athletics programme was created for four to 14-year-old children, promoting recreation and wellness.

Tebogo, 21, is famed for giving Botswana its first-ever Olympic gold medal in Paris in 2024.

In September 2025 during the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, the Olympic 200m champion will compete.

“Everybody on the lineup is a rival,” he acknowledged. “You can’t count someone out just because they didn’t perform well at the 2024 Olympics or the 2023 World Championships.”