Publications
Partners
Remember the name Thabang Mosiako. This yet unknown 22-year-old rising star caused an upset at the SA Senior Track and Field Championships at the Puk McArthur Athletics Stadium in Potchefstroom at the weekend.
Mosiako caused a stir when he stunned Olympic stars Elroy Gelant and Stephen Mokoka to take the men’s senior 5 000m national title in his hometown.
No one could have predicted the outcome of this thrilling race as all eyes were on Gelant and Mokoka, who usually trade blows in this event. Usual suspects Akani Simbine and Wayde van Niekerk hogged all the headlines in the 100m (9.95s) and 200m (19.90s) sprints, making the crowd to rise to their feet. Van Niekerk’s time was the SA record at the national championships. Simbine took silver in the 200m with a time of 20.15s.
Van Niekerk, who is going for the double at the IAAF World Championships in London in August, proved why he wants to run in the 200m and 400m events when he came close to breaking Anaso Jobodwana’s national record of 19.87s. Van Niekerk’s time was the fastest in South Africa as Jobodwana achieved his time at the world championships in Beijing, China in 2015. Clarence Munyai (4th, 200m, 20.25), Gift Leotlela (3rd, 200m, 20.20) and Henricho Bruintjies thrilled the sold-out crowd to inspire some confidence ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Caster Semenya completed the double in the women’s 400m and 800m to sign off in style as she won the hearts of the crowd. She clocked 51.60s in the 400m and registered 2:01:03 to bag the 800m final. In her first competitive event of the season, Semenya was in a league of her own.
Lanky Luvo Manyonga broke the South African and African record with a leap of 8.65m to break his own record of 8.62m he set last month. Zarck Visser, the African champion, registered his personal best of 8.49m. But the championships belonged to one man: Mosiako, who won the hearts of the capacity crowd as he received the biggest applause.
Gelant led from the onset, but showed tired legs towards the end when he was dramatically overtaken by the youngster, who stayed with Mokoka until the last 800m of the thrilling race. Mosiako said: “I defeated two top guys in the 5 000m and I have been preparing for this race the whole year.
“In the last 1 000m, I believed that I could do it and I did it. The sweet thing is that I’m from here in Potch. I can’t believe that I have done it, but I’m hoping that this will be a stepping stone to bigger things. I wanted to prove that I want to qualify for the World Championship. I want people to remember my name and after this, I’m sure this will.”
Mosiako is a half-marathon and 10km specialist and he clocked 14:03:84 to become the South African 5 000m champion. It was not the fastest time, but the achievement was massive for the young athlete.
He added: “I always watch Mokoka and Gelant race and knew their strategy. I came into the race with a solid plan.” Gelant registered 14:05:49 and Mokoka took third with 14:09:59.
Mosiako has no agent and he is hoping to get one after his performance.
Gelant bounced in the men’s 10 000m to grab the national title with 29:09:87.
