Mpumelelo Mhlongo, a double medallist at the Paris Paralympics, continues to bask in the glory of his achievements, reflecting on how his success has ignited celebrations across South Africa.
For many athletes, the Olympics and Paralympics represent the pinnacle of their careers. The four-year wait for the chance to compete at these prestigious events is often filled with hardship and sacrifice.
Mhlongo’s promising journey towards the 2024 Paris Paralympics had been marked by his earlier appearances in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo. His potential yielded early success this year with a gold medal at the 2024 Kobe Para World Championships.
He maintained the T44 200m world record, alongside the T44 100m, 200m and long jump records, with just one thing missing from his resume – a Paralympic medal.
The wait came to an end when Mhlongo secured South Africa’s first gold medal at the Paris Games, clocking an impressive 11.12 seconds in the men's 100m T44 final. Even now, he describes that moment as “unbelievable.”
Despite his accomplishments on the track, Mhlongo is still navigating the newfound status and accolades that came with bringing home both a gold and bronze medal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDmMCqECbTM
“Like most things, it has been surreal,” Mhlongo shared with Independent Media.
“You leave home with a certain status in your community, knowing what you have done matters to those closest to you. When you come back, you’re then dubbed a national hero, so it’s not something anyone ever prepares you for.”
He continued, “It’s been one of those moments of just taking cognisance of the fact that what we have done matters to a lot of people in our country. We are privileged to be in a position where we can bring so much cause for celebration and unity.”
Mhlongo’s path towards his second medal was much shorter than his first. A fourth-place finish in the men’s 200m T64 final elevated him to third, after German athlete Feliz Strenge was disqualified due to lane infringement.
“By the time they had announced that I needed to go to the victory ceremony, I even asked my coach, ‘Who could have ever scripted this sort of ending?
“I was just grateful I could stand on the podium for our country again,” he reflected.
The 30-year-old athlete believes that, beyond winning the gold medal, breaking the world record in the long jump earlier in the Games gave him the confidence to strive for similar success in the 200m event.
“It’s not something you focus on. Obviously, we wanted to have a good performance, a gold medal, and a world record, but it wasn’t the first thing that was front of mind for how we prepared for the Games,” he explained.
“All things in retrospect seem quite obvious, but securing a medal and heading to my 200m race was not all that important.”
He added, “What was important for that win was the world record in the long jump. As soon as we surpassed the world record jump in our class, we knew we could do the same in the 200m race, which we failed to do in the 100m.
“We also knew that surpassing that record (200m) would put us in a position where we could potentially medal, but these things come and go. They are only volatile, so we could only better ourselves and do the best our class has ever done in history.”