Another record bites the dust. This seems to be the norm when South Africa’s Lebogang Shange is racing nowadays.
At the Australian 20km Race Walking Championships in Adelaide earlier this week, he again set a new South African record.
Shange (hpc) actually did not merely break the record – he shattered it by 1 minute and 37 seconds.
Australia’s Dane Bird-Smith won in 1:20:04, Shange was second in 1:20:06 and Canada’s Benjamin Thorne third in 1:20:08. Shange’s SA record, set at last year’s World Championships in Beijing, was 1:21:43.
It was a good day for South African athletics because Wayne Snyman finished eighth in 1:21:45, which means he has also qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio.
Shange proved he definitely had big match temperament. He has competed in three races so far this year and managed to set a personal best time in each of them.
In January, in Canberra, he clocked a time of 41 minutes and 2 seconds in a 10 000m track race. About three weeks later, also in Canberra, he improved his time over the same distance to 39 minutes and 54.24 seconds. At the moment this is an unofficial SA record.
The hpc athlete does not mince words when asked what the secret was for his constant good performances.
“I am driven by a hunger to make South Africans proud every time I race and it is easy to do so because ‘Team Shange’ consists of some of the top scientists at the hpc and Chris Britz is undoubtedly one of the best coaches,” said Shange.
“I also have friends and family who help me to stay hungry and chase my dreams. The ultimate for me will be to win an Olympic medal for South Africa in Rio.”
Shange said he was “chuffed” with the way his race played out because it was the first time he raced from the front right from the start. At times he was actually leading the race.
Britz has been emphasising to Shange the only way for him to have a realistic chance to medal at the Games is to race aggressively.
“At the Games it will boil down to whether Lebogang will be able to stamp his authority on the race. This is why it is important that he is among the leaders right from the beginning.”
Shange described this morning’s race as a battle royal.
“There were three Canadians in the lead group and they tried their utmost to work me and Dane over. It meant we had to keep our wits about us all the time,” he recounted.
“In spite of the intense racing I was able to stick to my game plan. I wanted to walk the first 10km in a time faster than 41 minutes and I did it in 40:33, which was exciting.”
Shange is not sure when his next race will be. He is considering competing in Mexico on 6 March, but still has to discuss it with his coach.
Britz said they would have to take the different time zones into consideration when making a decision.
Shange would compete at the IAAF World Team Race Walking Championships in Rome on 7 May. Britz reckons a team consisting of Shange, Snyman and Marc Mundell could surprise.
Mundell (hpc) was 13th in Adelaide with a time of 1:27:08.
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