Disabled athlete breaks two records
JOBURG – Athlete Bonolo Lizwe smashes two records and takes three gold medals home at the Nedbank National Championships.
Athlete Bonolo Lizwe stole the show when he broke two SA records at the Nedbank National Championships for Physically Disabled on 30 March.
Lizwe earned a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 but he almost missed the Games when his team’s vehicle was involved in a accident so he decided to run to the venue and he made it just in time for registration.
Lizwe’s disability is that he is blind.
But, his disability did not stop him from beating the South African power-lifting record by 20kg when he took first place in his squat division by squatting 130kg.
He set another new record when he beat the national record in the dead-lift event when he lifted 192.5kg and he grabbed his third medal when he benched 90kg.
“I’m very proud to have broken two records today,” said Lizwe.
According to him, blind-power lifting is not held at the Paralympics, but he has his sights set on the next edition of the Global Championships in 2018.
“My main goal is to go to the World Championships, and I will work very hard to get a medal there.”
His coach, Gavin Davis, was delighted with the accomplishments of Lizwe.
Davis said, “We did not anticipate him breaking records so soon, and we hope he can go on to win a medal at the World Championships. He is very well disciplined and he’s able to compete in multiple sports, so I think he has a bright future.”
The annual Nedbank National Championships, which officially opened with a ceremony at Walter Sisulu Hall on 29 March gained momentum on 30 March with five of the eight sport codes getting under way at venues around Johannesburg.
