DUMELANG BAGOLO, ALL MATTERS ATHLETICS
- Tumelo Mabua
- Sep 2, 2024
- 6 min read
From Paris 24, Youth Championships, and the way forward.
The athletics world has been extremely busy since our inaugural edition. We witnessed Olympic history as Tebogo “Schoolboy” Letsile became the first African man to win the Olympics 200m gold ahead of the US favourites. He later led his team in the 4x400m silver, in an event he claims he is not ready for. One can only wonder what will happen the day he is ready. Justin Gaitlin probably feels like a true prophet, having called this win earlier in the year. The significance of Tebogo’s exploits can never be overstated for Batswana and Africa at large. Joseph Makwala should be proud of this progress, after laying the foundation in prior years.
Growing up I witnessed the likes of Mourice Green and Michael Jonhson do the same, and I was convinced I would be a sprinter too. Little did I know that I would write about sprinters and photograph them instead; a very close second to sprinting I suppose. Mourice particularly had this way with the crowd, that made him the epitome of cool for the young me. Tebogo, the much quitter version, is doing much the same for the current generation of kids who aspire to be sprinters too. This is such a big deal for the African continent. My hope is that this keeps rolling, and that the Federation of Botswana builds on the momentum by unearthing more talent and supporting it. In an Olympics that saw Jamaicans lose their grip of their dominance in the sprints, power might be shifting to Southern Africa. Time will tell.
Akani Simbine et al wrote SA and Africa into the history books in fire by winning the 4x100m men’s relay, in an episode that saw the star-studded USA team fumble the baton in the interchange. Bradley Nkoana cheering Akani to victory remains one of my most iconic memories of the Paris Olympics. The team would later arrive to a warm welcome of emotional family and excited South Africans. An emotional Bayanda Walaza grabbed his school principal in an emotional embrace, that would have broken a frail man, and his mom was in tears, while Nkoana’s grandmother did the same for the man from the North of Pretoria. The highly decorated Tatjana Smith received a R100 note from a fan for bringing home gold. I also want fans like that when I become famous. The universe is listening.
The minister of Sports was there to welcome the team, a bus load of Curro Hazeldean leaners filled the PR Tambo arrivals, adding to the excitement for the kid of the moment, Bayanda Walaza. US based Shaun Maswanganyi would arrive a day later to focused media attention. Both Bayanda and Bradley’s stories highlight the triumph of the human spirit, having experienced tragedies at a a young age; a sad reality that is more of a common occurrence than it is a rarity. Both conquered, and we draw inspiration from that.
There are not enough words to describe Siffan Hassan and her exploits at the Olympics, with a whole set of medals, the Gold, Silver and Bronze in multiple events. Her endurance, recovery and competitive spirit should be a subject of study for athletics in this current era. She did what we call: the impossible. A whole generation of girls is watching moghirl!! Overall, the USA continues its dominance in the athletics arena, with many calling for SA to adopt a similar schools and varsity athletics structure. Of course, Faith Kipyegon would not leave empty handed either, coming away with two medals, in an Olympics that saw the Kenyan Marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge bail out of the marathon event. Our very own Elroy Gelant would miss a top 10 position in the same event, coming 11th in a performance that marks a very good year for the Potchefstroom man, while country man Stephen Mokoka also finished the marathon.
Glenrose Xaba once again proved to be the current form girl, winning the Spar ladies ahead of Tadu Nare, the perennial winner of the race, topping it up with wins at the Total Sports Women’s Race, and concluding with the Tshwane Absa Series. Being the 10km record holder in the SA ladies 10km race, there seems to be no stopping for the Mpumalanga born girl. Who knows? By the time we share our next edition, she might have wrapped it up with the Joburg Absa race. We wait in anticipation.
Another US based athlete Adriaan Wildshutt broke yet another record, albeit his own, in Poland, Krakow at the Slesia diamond league, earning himself 8th place in the 3000m event. This is in line with his 2024 record breaking exploits, having broken the men’s 1000m SA record in Paris earlier this month. Adrian has been in unbelievable form this year. Records continue to fall whenever he runs.
In the lesser famed news, Tshwantsho, following the success at Soweto Cabal, was once again privileged to be official photographer at the Eyethu Fitness Tester at the Quagga centre in Pretoria west. We had as much fun as we did at Soweto. The cross-country season is almost coming to an end with the ASA National Champs almost here.
The AGN Cross Country champions had all the elements of excitement, adrenaline, and of course dust. It was a great day out. Our own development kids at Flying School Athletics Academy had a good outing too, with the majority headed to the national champions. Cross country competition remains one of the cornerstones of athlete development, and we are not without a depth of talent. One can only hope the talent gets nurtured right through to the seniors.
Waterfall AC hosted their most successful 21km race to date. The “Woolies” of running clubs as they are affectionately called, seem to have a recipe for hosting such races. We wait in anticipation for the next event. Yours truly might be fit to run again next time around. Failing which, there’s always a camera.
We were privileged to be part of the Supersport Wheelchair Championships in Mendeville, Johannesburg. Inclusivity in sports is our passion, and we would be elated so see some of the team members ending up at the Paralympics one day. The athleticism and competition on the day were beyond what we expected. We were introduced to a whole new world by the GBT Mongoose team.
The Daveyton Hearts, in the East Rand called us to be part of their annual race, and once again we delivered. Daughter dearest had the baptismal on the day, shooting her first race. The young girl clinching a fist in the air remains the highlight of our trip. We continue to advocate for township events, not only for the athletics, for the impact it does to the mindsets of the kids there. Vutta Cycling club in Daveyton is an example of such a difference. Thank you Daveyton Hearts for calling Tshwantsho.
The under 20 Championships are currently underway in Lima, the capital of Peru. Tshwantsho had the opportunity to spend the time with the team at the Johannesburg track stadium. Bayanda Walaza and Bradley Nkoana have already announced their presence with dominant displays in the 100m sprint heats, before going ahead to get gold and bronze respectively hardly two weeks after getting Olympic silver. We congratulate the boys as they return some of the precious metals back to Africa.
Our minister of sports is now almost two months in the office. I still wait to see what he has in store for us. There have been many promises, lots of talk, and lots of media attention from the charismatic minister. I would be happy to see where we start in addressing the problems we experience in our athletics and in our sports in general. School sports has already been identified as a quick win, and one of the ways to address ills of society that our kids face.
The hype is subsiding, and it would be great to see concrete plans to address the issues around sports facilities, athlete support and empowering the athletics structures. The Sinaba stadium in Daveyton is an example of what we used to have in terms of facilities and is just an example of many. The level of decay and deterioration caught some of us off-guard. I generally shy away from politics, but I always make exceptions, and really hope the minister tackles some of these issues, head on if one may add. Communities also need to take ownership and care of their facilities too. This not only holds potential for jobs, but also alternative activities for our kids, and hopefully a few medals at the Olympics. This simplistic view is not necessarily a blueprint for anything, but we are desperate for anything in the right direction.
As we conclude, So much has happaned since our first Newsletter, the U20 team is set to return in a few days, and the paralympics are in progress. That will definitely be our departure point of our third edition. Tshwantsho is open and welcome to any collaborations for worthy causes and advertising opportunities for your sporting events. Our services are available on request, and we do full event photography, including the sale of digital photos from a central repository, event marketing photos and social media management. Let’s create your content together. We remain light-hearted, and serious at the same time, and will relentlessly pursue worthy athletics and sporting causes that touch our hearts. Please follow our Facebook page, we are targeting 100k followers.
Till next time, stay active, God speed!
Malome Tumza
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