Top Limpopo athletes Rufus Photo and Ludwick Mamabolo with the rest of a five man team representing South Africa claimed gold at the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 100 km World Championships in Los Alcazares, Spain on Sunday.
Photo and Mamabolo, joined by Bongmusa Mthembu, David Gatebe and Gift Kelehe participated under supervision of the country’s best ultramarathon coach, John Hamlett.
Individually the team members delivered mixed results the most remarkable being that of Mthembu who claimed the individual silver medal in a time of 6:24.05 as well as set a new national record for 100 km bettering the previous South African record of 6:25.07 set by Bruce Fordyce in Stellenbosch in 1999.
A press statement issued by Athletics South Africa (ASA) President Aleck Skhosana, informed that Mthembu took the lead in the last stage of the race only to be overtaken by Japanese athlete Hideaki Yamauchi a mere 10 km before the finish line.
“Mthembu also became the first South African to step on the podium at this annual event since Cornet Mathomane grabbed bronze in Torhout, Belgium in 1993,” Skhosana said.
Kelehe finished ninth in a time of 6:43.00 and Gatebe 12th in a time of 6:44.34 securing the gold medal for the team, top three athletes to count. Japan and the United States of America claimed second and third place in the team category respectively. Photo finished 19th in a time of 6:52.43 while Mamabolo was unable to finish the race.
Athletes were selected purely on their outstanding performance in the annual Comrades Marathon with Gatebe being this year’s winner and Kelehe the top runner last year. Both Mthembu and Mamabolo claimed gold at the 2014 and 2012 Comrades while Photo finished fifth in 2014 as well as 2016.
It was well-known athlete and member of Pietersburg Road Runners (PRR) Johan van der Merwe’s idea to enter the country’s top athletes in the championship.
The team was expected back in the country on Tuesday.
Sport, Arts and Culture MEC Onnica Moloi has in the meantime expressed her satisfaction with the team’s performance. “The mere fact that they represented the province and the country on an international stages already makes them winners and their resilience is an inspiration to lot of young athletes. We will continue to support our athletes in all sporting codes and we want Limpopo to produce more athletes for the next Olympic Games,” Moloi said.
Story: RC Myburgh
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Featured photo: Sporting the green and gold are IAU 100 km World Championships athletes Rufus Photo, Gift Kelehe, David Gatebe, Ludwick Mamabolo and Bongmusa Mthembu with the championship’s current record holder Takahiro Sunada, third from left, and local long distance runner Johan van der Merwe.
