“Sprint”, a collaboration between Netflix and World Athletics, offers a behind-the-scenes look at track and field events, including the Diamond League, World Championships and Olympics. Season 1, released in July 2023, focused on the 2023 Diamond League and World Championships, while season 2, which premiered on Nov. 13, highlights track and field events at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Despite being promoted as one of the featured athletes in season 2 with Kenny Bednarek, Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas, Fred Kerley (USA), Oblique Seville, Shericka Jackson, Kishane Thompson (Jamaica), Julien Alfred (Saint Lucia), Tebogo only appears in the final episode, 22 minutes in. He feels the series heavily favors the four American sprinters, especially Lyles.
Less than a day after season 2 was aired, Tebogo expressed his disappointment on social media X.
“This is an American TV show,” the Botswana sprinter wrote.
Tebogo had a historic performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, defeating Bednarek and Lyles to win the 200m gold medal in 19.49 seconds. His victory not only broke the record in Africa but also secured Botswana’s first-ever Olympic gold medal. He became the second African athlete to win an Olympic medal in the men’s 200m, following Frankie Fredericks’ silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Ivorian sprinter Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith, who holds the African 100m record, previously called out the “Sprint”‘s production team Box To Box for excluding her from season 1 despite extensive filming.
“I felt disrespected,” Ta Lou-Smith told The Inside Lane. “The series is about the fastest sprinters in the world, not just the winners.”
Tebogo’s accomplishments in Paris earned him a nomination for World Athletics’ athlete of the year, alongside 11 other 2024 Olympic champions.
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