Timmy T Maranda
What was once a distant dream for South Africa’s new sprint sensation, Phathutshedzo Shaun Maswanganyi, has become a reality following his qualification for the Tokyo Olympics in Japan.
The 20 year old ran sub-10 and 20.19 to make his childhood dream come true, qualifying for both the 100m and 200m respectively at the University of Houston Track and field Championships on Sunday.
The US-based speedstar took to Twitter to express his excitement over finally making his dream of qualifying for the Olympics and representing his country a reality.
“The road to the Olympic Games is no longer a dream but a reality for me in both 100m & 200mm,” said Maswanganyi on his Twitter account.
He ran a personal best of 10.04 seconds in the 100m quarter-final to beat the qualification time of 10.05 to book a spot for the Olympics.
The Soweto-born sprinter also ran 20.19 in the NCAA men 200m quarter-final race – beating his previous time of 20.31 to qualify for the 200m race finishing ahead of Devante Brunette.
Coached by the American greatest athlete of all time, the legendary Carl Lewis, the South African is being touted as the next big thing in track and field, and is expected to compete for a gold medal in the upcoming Olympics.
Maswanganyi came close to breaking Akani Simbine’s national record of 9.99 in the 100m. He is on-course to become one of the greatest ever South African sprinters.
Back in 2020, the youngster broke the South Africa junior 100m record by clocking 10.07 seconds to set a new record at the Gauteng North Provincial Athletics Championships in Pretoria.
Despite the concerns about the surge in Covid-19 cases in Japan affecting the qualifying events around the world, the Olympics are due to start on 23 July 2021.
Image source : @tshedzoM
