Letsile Tebogo became the first African to win the Olympic 200 metres title on Thursday when he powered clear of American duo Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles in 19.46 seconds to claim Botswana's first Olympic gold medal.

Tebogo, who won bronze at the worlds last year and set a national record of 9.86 when finishing sixth in the Paris 100m final, produced a dominant run to become the fifth-fastest man in history over 200m.

Bednarek chased him all the way to take a second successive silver in 19.62 seconds, with Lyles, hoping to become the first American to complete the sprint double since Carl Lewis 40 years ago, third in 19.67.

Immediately after the race, US officials said Lyles had Covid and a yellow card appeared against his name in the official results.

Minutes later, American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone obliterated her own 400 metres hurdles world record with a time of 50.37 seconds to retain her Olympic title.

Anna Cockrell of the United States took silver and Dutchwoman Femke Bol claimed bronze.

McLaughlin-Levrone lowered her previous mark of 50.65 set at the US trials in June.

It was the sixth time she had broken the record and the crowd at the Stade de France went into a frenzy when it became clear a new all-time best was within her reach.

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won gold in the men's javelin. India's Neeraj Chopra took silver and Grenada's Anderson Peters got bronze.

Grant Holloway of the United States won the gold medal in the110 metres hurdles. American Daniel Roberts took silver and Jamaica's Rasheed Broadbell claimed bronze.(Reuters)
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Last updated: 2024-08-09 HKT 03:56