Dylan Bettencourt
After winning two gold medals and breaking a world record in Tokyo, Ntando Mahlangu is undoubtedly the future of South African athletics.
Mahlangu claimed the gold medal in both the men’s T61 final as well as the men’s T63 long jump events.
Going into the Paralympics, most South Africans didn’t know much about Mahlangu but he is now a celebrated paralympian with his name known worldwide.
Born in 2002 in the rural town of Tweefontein in Mpumalanga, Mahlangu was born with fibular hemimelia and was consigned to a wheelchair as a result of the diagnosis.
After moving to Pretoria in 2012, Mahlangu had both his legs amputated at the knee and received prosthetic legs donated by the Jumping Kids charity.
In 2016 Mahlangu got the chance to attend Afrikaanse Hoer Seunskool (Affies), a high school known for its sporting pedigree.
In the same year, aged only 15, Mahlangu competed in his first Paralympics at Rio and won silver in the men’s 200m T42 event. He hasn’t looked back since.
“Sport has given me the ability to be who I want to be, which is inspiring others. It opened so many doors for me. One important thing is I was able to go to school,” Mahlangu said in Tokyo.
Mahlangu, who is in grade 12, won’t have any time to celebrate his winnings as he is preparing to write his preliminary exams starting on Tuesday.
“I will only have my vacation in December because I need to prepare for my exam,” said a smiling Mahlangu.
The teenager said he hoped that he would continue his track form in the academic field as well.
Mahlangu took his books to Tokyo in order to continue studying while training to ensure he is well prepared for his exams.
Mahlangu is also featured in a Netflix documentary titled ‘Rising Phoenix’, about the Paralympics.
Image source: @Paralympics
