EAC’s Mamonyane hopes for gold at provincials

The East Athletic Club (EAC) top runner Mahlatse Mamonyane is soaked in athletics from head to toe.

The 10-year-old’s love for the sport is second to none. She’s the first to arrive for training and the last one to leave.

Her success in the recent Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) league meetings was a result of the amount of hard work she puts in during training.

Mamonyane was one of the most consistent athletes in CGA league meets, recording three wins and two runner-up spots in the girls’ U10 2km.

Impressively, the Madingoane Primary School learner’s times improved massively, clocking two sub-8, two sub-9 and a sub-10 finish in her five races this season.

The diminutive runner recorded her season’s best of 07:17 during the fifth meet in Westonaria for first place, which was a big leap from her three previous races.

Despite her dominance, Mamonyane is not satisfied with this achievement. She said the cherry on top would be a gold medal at the provincial cross-country championships on August 19 in Kagiso.

“I’m at peak fitness. I know I will get a gold medal,” she said.

The Daveyton resident has improved a lot from when she started, often intimidated by her competitors while she would look over her shoulder frequently mid-race, instead of concentrating on her journey ahead.

She started this season in beast mode, often staying with the leading bunch and only accelerating towards the end of the race.

“They are scared of me now,” she said. “I look at them at the start. I watch them sprint and when they get tired, that’s when I begin to speed up,” she said.

A win at the Kagiso Sports Complex would earn the junior runner a ticket to the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Cross-Country Championships in Gqeberha on September 16.

“I want to run at the nationals this year and I would like to see myself representing my country internationally.”

Mamonyane realised early that her future lay in athletics when she outpaced her peers on a makeshift track laid out on a cornfield in Limpopo.

“I love running. I’m at my happiest when I’m on the track. We used to have these running competitions at crèche in Limpopo and I always won,” said Mamonyane.

The foundation was laid all those years ago but the real work began when she joined her school’s athletics programme in Grade One in Daveyton.

Running barefoot on a patch of land behind the school, her determination and drive saw her notch up many wins during the local schools’ championships.

“I won during events at Noordelig. At school, they were happy for me. I felt like a celebrity,” she said.

Mamonyane’s fearlessness and positive attitude also attracted the attention of experienced coach Isaac Ndlovu, whose work behind the scenes has turned her into one of the stars of the EAC.

“I train hard and I listen to my coach. He tells me to start slow, gradually increase my pace and then finish with speed. That’s why I win.”

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