Mpumelelo Mhlongo heard Nkosi sikelel’iAfrika played loudly in front of a packed 80 000 Stade de France stadium on Sunday night and afterwards did a jig of joy, jumping up and down on the podium at the medal ceremony.
It was certainly Mhlongo’s moment. The 30-year-old blitzed to victory in the men’s 100m T44 in 11.12 seconds and afterwards said “I’ve opened the floodgates for my teammates to do more!”
He had crouched in the blocks with the weight of expectation on his shoulders. The world record holder (11.00), he was widely expected to win – but expectation and delivery are two completely different things.
Mhlongo delivered however on the greatest stage in Paralympic sport and he became the first Team SA medallist at these Games.
“There is a difference on every occasion,” he said about his race. “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.”
On his preparations he said: “It was a lot of hard work, dedication and listening to my coach. He would still shout at me for not executing the race he wants. But the job is done and there are two more events to go.”
What happens next? “It’s one step at a time. 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.”
Puseletso Mabote set himself up as a potential gold medallist when he equalled the Paralympic record, winning his T63 100m heat in 12.05sec to be fastest qualifier heading into the final. He could well add to South African men’s sprinting golden run of late, which has included 4x100m silver at the Olympics, 100m and 200m gold at the World Under-20 Championships and Mhlongo’s Paralympic gold.
Also involved in finals action on the evening was young high jumper Khumo Pitso who finished fifth after a best leap of 1.98m in the men’s T24 competition and long jumper Liezel Gouws, who paced eighth in the women’s T37 long jump with a leap of 3.62m.
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