Thabo Matebedi: An unsung hero behind South Africa’s sprinting success

Few coaches in South African sport have done as much in terms of development as Thabo Matebedi.

Affectionately known as ‘Coach T’, the 42-year-old mentor has discovered and developed a long list of sprinters who have gone on to make an impact at international level.

A former athlete himself, Matebedi set personal bests of 10.50 in the 100m event and 20.81 over the 200m distance in 2009.

Based in Atteridgeville, some of the kids in his area spotted him running on TV and asked if he would assist them with training. He obliged by starting a new club.

Working at the time as a fitness instructor at the University of Pretoria gym, he took some of his athletes to trials when the Tuks Academy was launched. And the Tuks coaches were so impressed with his sprinters that they promoted Matebedi from gym instructor to assistant athletics coach at the high school academy, where he worked under Hennie Kriel.

In 2021, during the Covid pandemic, Matebedi left Tuks, and he later signed on as the head of Curro’s high performance athletics programme.

“Curro Schools is a great place to work. They’ve got solid structures and good communication channels between the coaches and the teachers, which helps a lot,” Matebedi said this week.

Experienced coach

Holding a level three coaching licence, Matebedi has come a long way since he started assisting the youth in Atteridgeville.

In the last eight years, four junior sprinters have represented South Africa at the Olympic Games – Clarence Munyai, Gift Leotlela, Bradley Nkoana and Bayanda Walaza – and at some point they have all worked with Matebedi.

He has also coached the likes of SA junior record holders Viwe Jingqi and Bradley Nkoana, as well as 20-year-old sensation Benjamin Richardson, Olympic semifinalist Shaun Maswanganyi and former World Championships medallist Anaso Jobodwana.

And while most of those athletes have since linked up with other coaches (either joining national relay coach Paul Gorries in Potchefstroom or moving to the United States) Matebedi helped lay the foundations of their careers in Pretoria.

His current stable of sprinters includes Munyai, the national 200m record holder, as well as Walaza, who earned a relay medal at this year’s Olympics at the age of 18, and Sinesipho Dambile, who won the SA 200m title two years ago.

It is at grassroots level, however, where Matebedi continues to focus much of his attention, and among the 45 athletes he currently coaches (most of whom attend Curro schools) only two of them are seniors.

Future stars

As well as he is doing with his current group of rising stars, including the Curro Hazeldean 4x100m relay team who set a new U18 world best last week, Matebedi says the next generation promises to be just as explosive.

“I’ve already got my eye on some grade seven boys who are performing very well. They’re only 13, but they’re showing a lot of potential,” Matebedi said.

“We’ve got some exciting talent coming through and I’m looking forward to seeing them develop and grow over the next few years.”