Photo Credit: Zareena Gaibee

Mpumelelo Mhlongo has put South Africa on the medal table winning gold in the Men’s T44 100m on Sunday. Zareena was there to see it live.

 

Paris, France (02 September 2024)Mpumelelo Mhlongo has put South Africa on the medal table in a big way by winning gold in the Men’s T44 100m on Sunday evening. With his family in the crowd, South Africa’s flag bearer did what he needed to get the job done.

When looking at athletes at the Games, or any athletes, I never really know how they do it. Life balance is often a topic of discussion as funding is limited, and sacrifices of time, money, and social well-being are all finely balanced. But Mpumi takes this to the extreme. The man is working, doing a PhD, speaks five languages, advocates for inclusion, and is a Paralympic champion. And, and, and… the man is lovely. Seriously joyful, bubbly, and people can’t help but tell me how great he is.

When asked how he does it all, he said, “I think the big thing is, find whatever you’re passionate about, full hearts, and just pursue it with everything that you have. That’s what we do on a daily basis. It’s what recharges us because if we can contribute to our communities, we’re sure to see South Africa on the world map.” And at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, we are on the map, and he put us there.

Class of His Own: Competing in T44 for the First Time

The double world champion is, for the first time in his Paralympic career, competing in his correct class as a T44 athlete rather than with the T64 gents. By his own admission, he didn’t get everything right during the final.

“I mean, the records speak for themselves. We should have run faster if I wasn’t asleep for 60 metres of the race. But this is the first of three events, and I can only hope to do better from here on.”

He is the current record holder in this event, which he achieved while competing in a combined category with the T64 folks, so that still stands. But finally, having a T44 category, which he has fought so hard to be included in the Games, means that he gets a shiny gold medal for his efforts this time around.

More to Come: Mpumi’s Upcoming Events and Records

As he mentioned, he has two more events: the Men’s 200m T64 and the Men’s Long Jump – T64. He holds the records in both events in the T44 class but is unlikely to medal as he is competing with both T62 and T64 athletes.

Understanding the Classification: Navigating Paralympic Categories

It is confusing, but if it helps, the lower the number, the more limiting the disability. You can compete with people with a higher number, with less severe limitations, but not the other way around. Records can be broken in each category during an event, but the medals only go to the overall winners of the event. Make sense?

Mpumi also said that he hopes he has opened up the floodgates for the medals to pour in from Team South Africa, so keep an eye out.

If it helps, Puseletso Mabote, who equalled the Paralympic record yesterday in the Men’s 100m T63 and who watched Mpumi’s race from the warm-up track, just brimming with pride, wants you to know that all of this can be found on YouTube, free to watch, so no excuses not to tune in. One more week left in Paris for the Games. Can’t wait to see who steps up next!


Zareena Gaibee will be on the ground in Paris for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics events, sharing her take on the prestigious sporting event, giving exclusive insights into life at the games, and hopefully meeting many of the South Africans in Paris who are competing and supporting. She will be reporting her findings for Good Things Guy, giving readers a glimpse of what flying the flag in Paris is all about.

You can follow her series via Good Things Guy here.

If you would like to talk about sponsorship of this series, please reach out to us via email here.


Sources: Zareena Gaibee
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