Pretoria primary school boy wins silver in Rio
A 14-year-old boy of Laerskool Constantia Park in Pretoria grabbed the athletics world's imagination with his silver medal at the Paralympic Games in Rio.
Pretoria has a new blade running star.
The 14 year Ntando Mahlangu has captured the nation’s imagination with his silver medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Laerskool Constantia Park pupil 14-year-old Mahlangu stunned spectators by winning silver in a new African record time of 23.77 seconds.
He finished hot on the heels of defending Paralympic champion Richard Whitehead from Great Britain in the 200m for above-the-knee amputees.
Whitehead won the race, clocking 23.39 to retain his title with bronze going to David Henson (24.74s) also from Great Britain.
Mahlangu, an ambassador for the Jumping Kids Foundation, created quite a stir on the local athletics scene this year.
The foundation provides free access to advanced prosthetic equipment combined with rehabilitation to Southern African children living with lower limb amputations.
In preparation for Rio, Jumping Kids fitted Mahlangu with a special set of running prostheses.
They carry the names of people who have contributed to his four-year journey from 2012, when he was first fitted with prostheses.
Born with a condition known as hemimelia, Mahlangu spent a good portion of his young life in a wheelchair until, in 2012, the decision was made to amputate both his legs at the knee.
He was fitted with his first set of carbon fibre blades on 27 September 2012.
Only three years later, 13-year-old Ntando made history by breaking several senior track World Records in the T42 division.
He also won the Athlete with International Potential Award at the 2015 IWAS World Junior Games that took place in Stadskanaal, Netherlands.
“It takes a lot of people working together for a common goal, and believing in that goal, to affect the transformation of a child living with a physical disability, says Jumping Kids founder, Johan Snyders.
“When we first met Ntando, he was in a wheelchair, overweight and in a special-needs school. Providing him with prostheses, along with the necessary physiotherapy, opened up a whole new world.
“He now attends a mainstream school and is very popular with everybody who meets him. Access to the equipment is only the starting point for children like him.”
Young beneficiaries are usually fitted with a walking solution first but, since Mahlangu was quite clear about his expectations, he received a set of blades at a media event in September of that year.
Within weeks he was running. The youngster from the east of Pretoria created a stir at the 2015 Nedbank National Championships for physically disabled when he, at the age of 13, broke the majority of records in the T42 division.
Although the results were unofficial due to his age, his performance, and that of four of his Is Ability Sports Club team mates, secured the go-ahead to compete at the IWAS (International Wheelchair and Amputee Sport) World Junior Games that took place in Stadskanaal, Netherlands in July 2015.
The team brought back nine medals and, after another world class performance, Mahlangu won the IWAS Athlete with International Potential Award.
At this year’s Nedbank Championships for Physically Disabled in Bloemfontein (21-23 March), Mahlangu set two African Records and a 400m T42 World Record (53.19s). He followed this up by bettering his World Record three times at the ASA Sub-Youth, Youth, Junior and u.23 championships that took place in Germiston recently. What would Ntando Mahlangu’s message to other children be after the ordeals he had to endure in his short life?
“Remember who you are and where you come from and grab all the opportunities that come your way. Never give up but also remember to be patient and if you at first do not succeed – try again.”
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