Olympics
Mpumelelo Mhlongo's Golden Moment: Paralympic Glory, Record-Breaking Feats, and Mentoring the Next Generation
South Africa's Mpumelelo Mhlongo shines with record-breaking achievements at the 2024 Paralympics, securing gold and bronze, while mentoring the next generation of athletes on their path to greatness.
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Mpumelelo Mhlongo was happy to collect his second medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games after a lane infringement earned German athlete Feliz Strenge a disqualification, promoting the South African to third in the Men’s T64 200m final.
Breaking the Duck
Mhlongo won South Africa’s first medal of the Games with an impressive time of 11.12s to win the Men’s T44 100m final, securing a well-earned gold medal and his first medal at the global event.
The 30-year-old athlete was the standout performer for team South Africa in a campaign that saw them win a total of six medals (two golds and four bronze medals) to back up the seven they won at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
The sprint and long jump athlete went into the Games holding the world record for the T44 200m as well as the Games records for the T44 100m, 200m, and long jump, and he needed to get over the hurdle of securing a Paralympic medal to back up his records.
A new T44 class world record time of 22.62 in the final of the Men’s 200m T64 final placed Mhlongo in fourth position, but it was quick enough for him to be promoted to third, with second-placed Strenge missing out on the medals following his error.
“There was no disappointment for me finishing fourth; the first thing I saw was that I had the world record, and I was quite chuffed and excited for that, Mhlongo told Sportboom.com.
“I already knew that the lane infringement was in place; the athlete that did it was on my outside lane, and he was later disqualified. He stepped in to my lane, so I knew that there was going to be some sort of infringement protocol applied.”
But in all honesty, I was just tired; it was a long week of a lot of events and celebrations and having to come back and peak to do something that had never been done in history before, it was more relief that it was finally done, and we finished on a strong high.
Mpumelelo Mhlongo
Finding the Balance
Mhlongo, who lives with constriction ring syndrome and a deformed clubfoot, has had to navigate through three events in his career so far, and with the demands and the different challenges presented by all three, the 30-year-old has had to dig deep to keep up to the required standards.
“It’s incredibly difficult to find the balance between all events because, if you think about it, any training program is geared for you to peak and specialise in one particular event, especially in track and field.”
“It’s like asking a striker to be good at striking practice and also be good at goalkeeping if I have to use a football analogy; it’s not very common, but what we try and do is find the things that are similar in all three events.”
“We use those similarities as the strength to go into every event, and then it’s really about taking ten years of your life and ensuring you’re a specialist in all the events.”
It becomes a longer journey than what it would have been if I were a 100-meter sprinter or just a long jumper, but the journey is just that much more rewarding because I get to showcase my talent in a multitude of events.
Mpumelelo Mhlongo
The Senior Role
Team South Africa had largely a team that was still finding its feet, and being his third time being at the Games, Mhlongo also had to share some of his experience in helping the younger athletes in the team.
“What we knew for sure is that we had a responsibility as one of the senior athletes in that we wanted to give our juniors and the rest of the young contingents a way to be confident that their performance will be good enough at an international stage.”
“We were checking in on the youngsters and making sure that they weren't overwhelmed by how big the games were and the 60 000 people; it would be the first time most of them have competed in a stadium filled with a crowd that big.”
“We had Simone Kruger, our other gold medal winner, and she is very much a junior; even though she has been to two Games she's still a 19-year-old.”
“And this was a reaffirmation to other juniors that should they choose this as a career path, there is nothing stopping them from achieving greatness in the world, and that little hope is everything you need as an athlete.”
Obakeng - A passionate sports fan at heart that had a dream to be a professional soccer player or cricketer. He was introduced into the world of MotoGP and Formula One by Brad Binder's dominant moto3 championship win and he has not looked back. He is able to live through his passion for sport through writing, and he is a sport writer for the Independent Newspapers in South Africa.