The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Botswana

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This page contains a list of the greatest Motswana Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 4 of which were born in Botswana. This makes Botswana the birth place of the 82nd most number of Athletes behind Venezuela, and Mongolia.

Top 9

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Motswana Athletes of all time. This list of famous Motswana Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Amantle Montsho

1. Amantle Montsho (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 37.97, Amantle Montsho is the most famous Motswana Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages on wikipedia.

Amantle Montsho (born July 4, 1983) is a female sprinter from Botswana who specializes in the 400 metres. She represented her country at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, reaching the final at the latter edition. She was the first woman to represent Botswana at the Olympics. She has also competed at the World Championships in Athletics and the IAAF World Indoor Championships, and is the former World Champion over the 400m, winning in a personal best time of 49.56 in Daegu. Montsho was suspended for two years for an anti-doping rule violation after she tested positive for methylhexaneamine at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. A two-time African Championships gold medallist over 400 m, she has also won titles in the event at the 2007 All-Africa Games, the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Her Commonwealth win made her Botswana's first-ever gold medallist of the games. Her personal best times are 11.60 seconds in the 100m, 22.89 seconds in the 200m, and 49.33 seconds in the 400m. She trains at the High Performance Training Centre in Dakar, Senegal, and She holds the national record for the 400 m both indoors and outdoors.

Photo of Letsile Tebogo

2. Letsile Tebogo (b. 2003)

With an HPI of 30.37, Letsile Tebogo is the 2nd most famous Motswana Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Letsile Tebogo (Tswana pronunciation: [lɪt͡silɛ tɛbʊχo]; born 7 June 2003) is a sprinter from Botswana. He won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 200 metres event, with his win earning the first-ever Olympic gold medal for Botswana. He also won the silver medal at the 2023 World Championships in the 100 m and followed it up with a bronze medal in the 200 m five days later. Tebogo won in the 100 metres and placed second in the 200 metres at both the 2021 and 2022 World Athletics Under-20 Championships. In 2021, he became the first Botswana athlete to claim the 100m title at any World Championships level. He is the 200m 2022 African champion, becoming the youngest winner of this title in competition history. He broke the 300m world best, running a time of 30.69 seconds on February 17, 2024 at altitude in Pretoria, South Africa. Tebogo has held the world U20 record in the 100m since April 2022. He was the first man from Botswana to break the 10-second barrier.

Photo of Isaac Makwala

3. Isaac Makwala (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 29.50, Isaac Makwala is the 3rd most famous Motswana Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Isaac Makwala (born 24 September 1985) is a Botswana sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres.

Photo of Nijel Amos

4. Nijel Amos (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 23.58, Nijel Amos is the 4th most famous Motswana Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Nijel Carlos Amilfitano Amos (born 15 March 1994) is a Botswana middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. He won the silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics, which was Botswana's first-ever Olympic medal. Amos claimed gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 All-Africa Games. At the African Championships in Athletics, he took golds in 2014, 2016 and 2018. He won the gold medal in his specialist event at the 2012 World Under-20 Championships. Amos is the Botswana record holder for the 800 m, his mark is also the world U20 record. He is a three-time Diamond League 800 m winner. On 12 July 2022, Amos was provisionally suspended from competition for testing positive for metabolite GW1516. On 3 May 2023, it was announced that he had received a backdated three-year doping ban, which would end on 11 July 2025.

Photo of Baboloki Thebe

5. Baboloki Thebe (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 19.67, Baboloki Thebe is the 5th most famous Motswana Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Baboloki Tirelo Thebe (born 18 March 1997) is a Botswana track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He was a silver medallist in the 200 metres at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. He reached the semi-finals at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He made a breakthrough in the 400 m in May 2016 with a run of 44.22 seconds, placing him third on the global seasonal lists and moving him into the all-time top 30 for the event. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics. His personal best in 400 meters is 44.02, which he ran in July 2017

Photo of Nurkanat Azhikanov

6. Nurkanat Azhikanov (b. 2001)

With an HPI of 0.00, Nurkanat Azhikanov is the 6th most famous Motswana Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Nurkanat Azhikanov (born 23 February 2001) is a Kazakhstani Professional karateka, he is currently represents Kazakhstan internationally Kumite (Karate) event.

Photo of Christine Botlogetswe

7. Christine Botlogetswe (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 0.00, Christine Botlogetswe is the 7th most famous Motswana Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Christine Ayanda Botlogetswe (born 1 October 1995) is a sprinter from Botswana who competes primarily in the 400 metres. She competed at the 2016 Olympics, running a non-qualifying 52.37 in the first round. She runs for the Orapa Athletics Club and is coached by Justice Dipeba, who also coaches Isaac Makwala, the seventh fastest man in history. She qualified to represent Botswana at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Keamogetse Kenosi

8. Keamogetse Kenosi (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 0.00, Keamogetse Kenosi is the 8th most famous Motswana Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Keamogetse Sadie Kenosi (born 17 January 1997) is a Botswana boxer. She competed in the women's featherweight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She lost to Karriss Artingstall of Great Britain in the first round. Originally a netball player, Kenosi began boxing in 2015. She competed at the 2019 World Championships and won a gold medal at the 2019 African Games.

Photo of Galefele Moroko

9. Galefele Moroko (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 0.00, Galefele Moroko is the 9th most famous Motswana Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Galefele Moroko (born 16 April 1997) is a Botswana sprinter. She competed in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. She qualified to represent Botswana at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

People

Pantheon has 9 people classified as Motswana athletes born between 1983 and 2003. Of these 9, 9 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Motswana athletes include Amantle Montsho, Letsile Tebogo, and Isaac Makwala. As of April 2024, 5 new Motswana athletes have been added to Pantheon including Letsile Tebogo, Nurkanat Azhikanov, and Christine Botlogetswe.

Living Motswana Athletes

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Newly Added Motswana Athletes (2024)

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