Highway’s Paralympian wins SA’s first gold medal
Even though he grew up in a township and was born with physical challenges, Mpumelelo Mhlongo says he has never let the challenges hold him back.
KEARSNEY College Old Boy Mpumelelo ‘Mpumi’ Mhlongo bagged South Africa’s first gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games on Sunday when he won the 100m T44 race.
Mhlongo won in a time of 11.12 seconds, ahead of Cuba’s Yamel Vives Suarez (11.20) and Eddy Bernard (11.58) from Malaysia, who won bronze.
Team SA’s flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony in Paris is the 2024 winner of Athletics SA’s Sportsman of the Year with a Disability.
After the race, Mhlongo said he could have done better, having had a poor start, but he was thrilled to have placed South Africa on the medal table. He said that having his wife in the stands, together with his mother, for the first time, and his mother-in-law, was a special moment for him.
Also read: World-record-holding Paralympian aims to break more records
Kearsney College described Mhlongo as an exceptionally talented all-rounder and leader from an early age. He was head of house at Kearsney, head of the college’s acclaimed choir when it won gold at the 2012 World Choir Games, captain of the second soccer team and he achieved Academic Honours Cum Laude, achieving seven distinctions in his final IEB matric results. He also speaks six languages – English, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, French and Portuguese.
As one of South Africa’s track-and-field medal hopes at these Games, he was already a Paralympic Games record holder, as well as a T44 world-record holder in 100m, 200m and long jump. He competed at the Games in Tokyo three years ago.
Mhlongo (30) was born with a congenital deformity that left his right foot severely deformed and the chance of amputation strong, and the development of his fingers was also affected. But he never let these physical challenges hold him back while growing up in Klaarwater, Mariannhill.
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