Now, the matric student is gunning for Paralympic gold to add to his already impressive medal collection that includes gold in the 2019 World Championships and silver in the 2017 edition of the same competition.
South African Paralympic athlete Ntando Mahlangu. Picture: Twitter screengrab.
JOHANNESBURG – At 19 years old, South African Paralympic athlete Ntando Mahlangu is aiming for his second medal at the Paralympics when he competes in the T63 200m and long jump events in Tokyo.
Mahlangu was a 200m silver medallist at the last Games in 2016 at the age of just 14.
Now, the matric student is gunning for Paralympic gold to add to his already impressive medal collection that includes gold in the 2019 World Championships and silver in the 2017 edition of the same competition.
“Its my second Games, so I think I’m very comfortable and confident about what I have done in the past 5 years. I am super excited you know its Tokyo, we never thought it would happen but here we are and I’m here representing my country and my people and doing what I love. I’m here to push and I have been doing that over the last three years in the different events and my goal in those events is to do better than the previous time,” he said.
In addition to high level competition, Mahlangu also has an eye on the future and life beyond the athletics track. He is currently preparing for his preliminary exams and will sit for those exams once he returns from Tokyo.
“We try to balance school and athletics on a 50/50 scale. I won’t say it’s the easiest thing to do but we do try to juggle everything and not focus too much on one thing or the other so while I’m here, I am studying for exams as well,” he said.
As if all that wasn’t enough, Mahlangu was also part of the Netflix documentary series called Rising Phoenix and featured as one of nine Paralympic athletes who told their stories and journeys in competition.
Download the Eyewitness News app to your iOS or Android device.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
