After tough league setback Spark Rivonia athlete eyes championships podium
After she couldn’t get to the finish line at the CGA Track and Field League 4, Paballo Lebuso did not step back, preparing for the 2026 Central Gauteng Athletics Provincial Championships.
The track at Germiston Stadium did not give 15-year-old Paballo Lebuso the ending she had imagined.
On February 28, the Spark Rivonia athlete had lined up for the 5000m race walk at the Central Gauteng Athletics Track and Field League 4. “I was excited and ready to work as it was my first league this year.” However, somewhere along the race, her calf muscles began to tighten. Each step became heavier, each stride, more painful.
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What followed wasn’t just a physical battle; it was a mental one.
Paballo said she kept thinking of whether to stop or continue walking, with a motivation to never give up in mind, but her body ended up making a decision for her. She could not finish.
For an athlete who fell in love with the sport back in 2022, when it started as nothing more than a fitness activity, not completing a race cut deep. “I tried to continue walking even though my calf muscles were tightening, but my body ended up declining. Not finishing the race was really hard for me to accept, but I took it as a motivation to work harder.”
Long distance walks are what Paballo excels on in athletics, and loves it. That love is exactly why the setback hurt, and exactly why she refuses to let it define her. Instead of dwelling on disappointment, she went back to racing.
Paballo is now preparing for 2026 Central Gauteng Athletics Provincial Track and Field Championships, set to take place at UJ Auckland Park Stadium on March 13 to 14.
She has her eyes set on the podium, planning for, at least, a top four finish, with a time of 29 minutes. “My body is okay now. I’m working on my calf and trying, by all means, to not disturb the recovery of my calf as I’m preparing for the 2026 Central Gauteng Athletics Provincial Track and Field Championships.”
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Behind her stands the support of her father, and the memory of her late mother, the two people who have played the biggest role in her journey. Their belief fuels her resilience, and while she may describe herself as shy, always smiling and respectful, there is a quiet steel within her. Off the track, she says people don’t always see her leadership qualities.
They don’t always see how approachable she is, or how much she enjoys being around funny people, but, on the track, they are beginning to see something else. A young athlete learning in real time how to handle adversity. “When things don’t as planned, I remind myself of where I come from and how this sport has changed who I am.
“In the next few years to come, I see myself as a professional athlete, representing the province or country.”
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