Former world champions Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley, both from the US, finished in second and third with times of 9.92 and 9.95 respectively.

"I meditated before the race and it went how I wanted it to be. 2024 was my year," the Motswana said according to the Associated Press. 

The 21-year-old claimed gold —Botswana’s first ever— in the 200m at the Paris 2024 Olympics and powered his team to silver in the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay. Tebogo’s victory in Rome was his third Diamond League triumph since the Olympics: having also won 200 races in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Chorzow, Poland, over the past nine days.

Tebogo started running barefoot in 2019 and began competing in 2021 at just 17 years old. He would go on to win two gold medals that year in the World U20 Championships in Nairobi and Cali. 

"Running without shoes in Africa and in the poorer areas of the world is normal," he said. “Seeing me win Olympic gold, a lot of people probably went and looked where Botswana is on the map.”

Now the sprinter races with his mother’s birthdate written on his spikes, which he showed Pope Francis when they met last week. She died in May of breast cancer.

"I know my mom is happy. She was a religious woman," Tebogo said on meeting the Pope.