HE MAY be a South African sporting hero with two Paralympic gold medals and a world record to his name but athletics is having to take a back seat for a while.
Ntando Mahlangu the Paralympian is also Ntando Mahlangu the matric student – and it’s nose-in-the-books time for the 19-year-old blade runner now.
He’s hard at work catching up on the work he missed when he soared into the record books in the long jump T63 category and romped home in the 200m T61, doing his team, his family, and his country proud (YOU, 16 September).
“Matric is exciting but it’s tough,” he says. “Especially when I had to juggle it with athletics. But at least it’s calmer now that the Paralympics are over so I can focus on school.”
Athletics is his great love – the sport that’s brought him success and satisfaction and helped him overcome his insecurities. It has also helped him silence the kids who used to bully him as a little boy, taunting him because of his disability.
Those kids would’ve heard how Mahlangu went to Tokyo and slew the competition, his blades slicing through the air as he leapt and ran to glory.
His athletics journey started seven years ago and he was hooked straight away. “From the first day I loved running and feeling the wind whistling in my ear,” he tells us via video call from his Pretoria home. “As a youngster I didn’t know much about the Paralympics but when I was introduced to the games it became a dream to one day participate.”
Mahlangu competed in his first Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016 when he was just 14, bagging a silver medal in the T42 200m and stunning everyone – himself included.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة 30 September 2021 من YOU South Africa.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة 30 September 2021 من YOU South Africa.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
HOW TO BE YOUR OWN THERAPIST
With more and more of us struggling with our mental health, here's a common-sense guide to coping with life's ups and downs
SPUD: THE MAGIC CONTINUES
John van de Ruit tells us why he decided to write a sequel - and shares how his first book helped him find enduring love
SEX CONTRACT GONE WRONG
A Cape Town couple have been charged with using a young woman as a sex slave-but some say she lost the job she signed up for and now has a grudge against them
LIAM LAID TO REST
More than a month after One Direction singer LIAM PAYNE (31) tragically fell to his death from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his loved ones finally got to say their goodbyes.
SHILOH HANGS OUT
THE two young women look like any pair of good friends chatting and laughing as they leave their dance class in Los Angeles.
LEO IN LOVE
He's just turned 50 and it seems Leonardo DiCaprio may finally be ready to settle down
PACKING A PUNCH
Irish actor Paul Mescal beefed up for his role in the blockbuster epic Gladiator II - and fans are loving it
I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE A LOVE CHILD
As the illegitimate daughter of the king, she fought to be recognised as part of Belgium's royal family, but Princess Delphine says she still feels unwelcome
'I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES'
A bite from a spitting cobra 13 years ago nearly killed her but Mikayla survived - and she's made peace with her scars
THE CLAWS ARE OUT!
Things have grown frosty between the Beckhams and the Sussexes as Becks comes out in clear support of William
