Tshenolo Lemao won South Africa’s first gold medal at the IAAF World Youth Championships (under-20) in Nairobi on Wednesday night by winning the 100m in 10.57s.

It was a one-two for South Africa in the final as Retshidisitswe Mlenga was second in 10.61s with the pre-race favourite, Tyreke Wilson (Jamaica) third in 10.65s.

“I am definitely over the moon. It was a great race to win,” said the 16-year-old learner from TuksSport High School moments after his victory.

The conditions were far from ideal as it started to rain just before the final. However, Lemao was never going to allow that to get to him. He is a firm believer in controlling the controllable.

“I was excited when I started to settle down in my starting blocks. The only thing I wanted to do was to run. I knew the conditions would be tough, but I told my myself to stay calm and focused,” said the young sprinter.

According to Lemao, he was motivated after the semi-finals as he got to run only the third fastest time. He finished second in his semi-final heat running 10.50s.

“Afterwards I told myself to refocus on what matters, and that is to to win a medal for South Africa.”

Before he left for Nairobi Lemao was slightly worried as to how he would perform on the international stage.

“In the 100m I feel at times that I get over excited over concentrating before I race and this leads to me messing up my race.”

Testing himself against the stopwatch was not always Lemao’s first passion. At first, he was an avid hockey and cricket player. At primary school, he earned his provincial colours in hockey, and he used to be a handy, fast bowler.

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