Shange wins prestigious IAAF race in China
Pretoria's world-class race walker, Lebogang Shange, has compensated for disappointments earlier this year with a splendid performance at a high-profile race in China.
The HPC athlete, Lebogang Shange, pulled off perhaps one of the best wins of his race-walking career earlier this week when he won the Around Taihu International 20km-race in China.
It is an IAAF “Gold Status-event” which meant that Shange has improved his standings in the IAAF Race Walking Challenge Series to being jointly the third. Before this race, he was ranked 8th.
“Totally over the moon,” is how a happy Shange described his victory.
“2018 was a year with many disappointments, but it does not matter anymore as I am ending my season smiling knowing I am on track to being my best at next year’s World Championships in Doha. I got to thank my coach, Sandor Rácz, for the way he kept on believing in my abilities and always having a plan to ensure that I become a more efficient race walker,” explained an enlightened Shange.
His winning time was 1:23:20. Eider Arevalo from Columbia was second in 1:23:23 and Isaac Palma from Mexico finished third in 1:23:54.
Wayne Snyman, who is also an HPC based athlete, finished 7th in a time of 1:25:26. It is possible the best result of his career.
The Around Taihu is a multi-day event. Shange finished second in the second day’s 12km race and was third on day three in the last race which was also over 12km. This means that he has finished second overall for the second consecutive year. He was also part of the winning team.
According to Shange, the third day’s racing was a real test of character.
“I really suffered over the first six kilometres. I just could not get my legs going. But I was never going to give up without a fight. Luckily over the last few kilometres, I got stronger and stronger. Eventually, I ended up being in quite a ‘battle’ with the race leaders. I think in the end we were only separated by seven or so seconds,” he said.
Another highlight for Shange was winning the Memorial Jerzy Hausleber 20km race walk in Mexico in February which is also part of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge Series.
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