Imagine winning a gold medal at the South African Athletics Championships not once actually training in the event in which you are victorious.

That is indeed what Chris Moleya from TuksAthletics did in 2014 when he won the high jump during the South African Junior and Youth Championships in Stellenbosch.

In that championship he jumped 1.95m to clinch gold in the under-18 age group.

There is a story to be told about his heroic exploit.

Since then he went on to win the South African junior high jump title as well. This season he is the South African senior champion. A definite highlight was winning a silver medal at the recent African Championships it meant he qualified to compete at the IAAF Inter-Continental Cup in Ostrava this coming weekend.

If ever anyone can claim to have started from humble beginnings it is Moleya. He grew up in a small village outside Zebediela in Limpopo. At the athletics club where he trained he was the only high jumper. But there was one big problem. The facilities were minimal. There definitely was no high bar to try and get over. More importantly, there was no mat to land on for Moleya should he decide to jump.

So what to do? Not wanting to risk injuries Moleya did what all his club mates did. He ran and ran and ran while remaining to be the only high jumper. The only time he jumped was during competitions, and that did not happen often.

When asked how he managed to win the first of his three South African titles without proper training Moleya’s honest answer is that he is driven by hunger to be the best in whatever he does.

“I want to succeed. No matter what I am doing. It is a matter of pride to me,” explained the young athlete.

Moleya admits to it being difficult to give up playing football to just focus on athletics.

“In my village, the two most popular sports are football and running. I was quite a good football player. If I had stuck to it, I might have made it. Quite a few of my village’s players are currently playing in the PSL. One of my best friends and mentor is Hlompho Kekana who grew up on the same street as I.  He is now playing for Mamelodi Sundowns.  I owe him big time. He also always encouraged me and told me that I got what it takes to become one of the best high jumpers,” Moleya concluded.

If fully rested Moleya is confident of jumping 2.30m, but he is not sure whether he will do so during the Inter-Continental Cup. His best height so far is 2.26m.

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