Olympic athlete sentenced for rape
Shange won many medals across the world as a South African racewalker and his greatest success was fourth place in the 2017 World Championship.
South African racewalker and Olympic athlete Lebong Shange (33) was sentenced to prison for rape on April 13.
The Evander Regional Court sentenced the well-known athlete to 10 years imprisonment for rape and six months for assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Shange was arrested in 2019 for raping and assaulting a woman in eMbalenhle.
According to Warrant Officer Erika Schwartz, the crime was committed in eMbalenhle, although the accused and the victim are from Soweto.
The sentences will run concurrently.
Shange won many medals across the world as a South African racewalker.
His greatest success was fourth place in the 2017 World Championship.
Shange became the first African athlete to win a race in the Mexican leg of the IAAF race-walking.
He was provisionally suspended for four years from competing for a doping violation in 2021 after a positive test for trenbolone (anabolic steroid) but was still included in the South African Olympic team that year.
