The title of ‘Blade Runner’ is something of a poisoned chalice here in South Africa, but 14-year-old Ntando Mahlangu is in the news for all the right reasons.

Ntando has only been using prosthetics for four years, which is what makes his success at this year’s Paralympics all the more remarkable.

First up let’s see the young man in action, grabbing silver on Sunday in the men’s 200 metres for above-the-knee amputees:

That’s a remarkable effort chap, massive congrats. A little more on Ntando from IOL:

Mahlangu is still a child, but in 23.77 seconds at the Olympic Stadium, he became a symbol of what is possible, and a breaker of barriers between the able-bodied and the disabled.

“There is no such thing as disadvantaged or advantaged. I qualified and I came here. I am the one that wanted to be in the big boys’ game,” said Mahlangu. “My school is my priority because I want to be an engineer. When I go back I want to work hard because I missed exams so I have to catch up. It was the first time to be with the best athletes in the world. I’m going to take that and put it in my pocket. When I go back home I’m going to train harder and harder to win at the world championships next year (in London).”

Given what he has already achieved, you’d be a fool to bet against him achieving whatever he sets his mind to.

[source:iol]