WATCH: Second gold for Pretoria’s blade runner at Paralympic Games

Before leaving for Tokyo in Japan, Ntando Mahlangu confidently told Rekord that, although the 200m is not his favourite item, he will win gold for South Africa in that item at the Paralympic Games.

Late Friday afternoon he kept his promise and won the 200m (T61) in a time of 23.59s. With that, this Affies pupil won a second gold medal for South Africa, after he also took gold in the long jump in the same code last week.

It is well known that the 200m is not Mahlangu’s favourite item. He is actually a specialist in the 400m, but unfortunately, this item was not part of the program at the Games in his code (T61).

Nevertheless, Mahlangu put on a remarkable performance and in the process dealt with a Paralympic legend.

Richard Whitehead of Britain is a two-time men’s 200m (T61) Paralympic gold medallist and four-time world champion, but on Friday afternoon he had to be satisfied with the silver medal.

Out of admiration and respect for the young South African who beat him, Whitehead took his name and number from his athletics vest and presented it to Mahlangu in exchange for his own.

Five years ago, at the Paralympic Games in Rio, Mahlangu won the silver medal in the same race, while Whitehead was the champion that day. Mahlangu was then only 14 years old and ran with the grown men.

Another remarkable aspect of the race was that Mahlangu’s prosthesis was decorated in very particular symbolic patterns. Among other things, it represented the colours of his school (Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool – Affies – in Pretoria), as well as his ethnic tribe in South Africa, the Ndebele people.