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South Africa has a new sporting hero.

Stepping up is Mpumelelo Mhlongo, who bagged SA’s first medalist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, sprinting to victory in the men’s 100m T44 with a record-breaking time.

Not only was he the first medallist but also a gold medal winner, as he scorched to victory at the Stade de France on Sunday, leading from start to finish in 11.12 seconds.

He was pushing first right up to the end in lane four trying to subdue the challenge thrown down by Cuban Yamel Vives Suarez, who was the only athlete who really pushed Mhlongo, finishing in 11.20s. Eddy Bernard of Malaysia was third, finishing in 11.58s.

“I didn’t execute the race perfectly and at 60 metres I told myself that I have to wake up. But it’s job done! We got the gold and hopefully now the floodgates will open,” said the 30-year-old Team SA athlete.

Go, Phantom Toes, go!

 

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Mhlongo, who lives and works in Johannesburg, came into the men’s T44 100m final as the favourite – and delivered on that tag in front of 80,000 passionate fans.

“There is a difference on every occasion,” 30-year-old Mhlongo said after the race, per Daily Maverick. “This time, with my wife in the stands, my mother here for the first time ever, and my mother-in-law. Having my family here is everything I could have asked for.”

Born with a congenital deformity called amniotic band syndrome that resulted in having a club foot, Mpumelelo used sport as a child to overcome the stigma he faced. Since then, he’s become a three-time world record holder in the T44 category, breaking the record both for long jump and 100m in 2019 followed by the 200m earlier this year. He is still set to compete in the 200m and long jump events in the same classification this year.

 

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He pushed hard enough during preparations, saying that it was a lot of “hard work, dedication and listening to my coach”.

“It’s one step at a time,” the focused athlete said. “We did the 100 and got the job done. Now, time to recover and refocus as if it never happened, and execute the plan that we have been preparing for three years.”

Mhlongo is not just a record-breaking athlete but is also currently pursuing a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Cape Town. What an all-round champ.

Mhlongo is hopeful that his duck-breaking gold medal achievement will inspire his South African teammates to rake in the medals too.

“I’ve opened the floodgates for my teammates to do more,” said Mhlongo, who was also a flag bearer at the Paralympic opening ceremony.

As if hearing the call, Louzanne Coetzee snatched the bronze medal in the women’s 1,500m T11 final less than 24 hours later, to take South Africa’s tally to two after four and a half days of action.

Way to go, guys. We love to see it!

[source:dailymaverick]