Mark Smit
19 August 2008
Beijing — LADIES and gentleman, we have a medal-winner.
Khotso Mokoena, a 23-year-old described by many athletics experts as too big-headed and muddle-minded to achieve on the big stage, shut his critics up with a silver medal in the long-jump final in a packed national stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics last night.
Mokoena, who has a personal best of 8,45m - recorded at the 2006 African Championships in 2006 in Mauritius - jumped 8,24m last night to fall just 10cm short of Panamanian winner Irving Saladino Aranda's 8,34m. Mokoena achieved the distance with his fourth jump on an erratic night when he recorded three no-jumps due to foot faults.
It was a performance that at last brought great relief to the beleaguered Team SA, which has been heavily criticised after more than a week of poor performances and faced the threat of going home empty handed.
His effort also brought great relief to South African camp followers who have had to talk and write about nothing but dismal performances since August 9, the day the Games began.
Mokoena was understandably ecstatic after his medal-winning jump. He knew it had been special almost immediately, clenching his fist as he left the sand pit. "I was under a lot of pressure because we had not won a medal yet, so I am very pleased," he said. "Even though I was under pressure, I managed to keep it together."
Asked about his recent parting from his coach - who was one of those who had accused him of being big-headed, and also a liar - Mokoena said he did not want to talk about anything that would detract from the pleasure of the achievement.
"I take the blame for everything that happened but now I just want to focus on the future and 2012 (the London Olympics). I have had little bits of help from here and there to prepare for this and I am very grateful for that," he said.
Arguably the highlight of the night's athletics was a world pole-vault record for the peerless Russian Elena Isinbaeva, who vaulted 5,05m to break her own world record of 5,04m set in Monaco in July. Isinbaeva had said she intended to break the world record last night and she achieved it with her last attempt.
She cleared the bar easily to an enormous roar from a crowd that had thrown its weight behind her from the start of the night's jumping. The athlete did a joyous backflip before draping the Russian flag around her shoulders for a lap of honour.
On a more sombre note, thousands of athletics fans in the majestic Bird's Nest national stadium probably witnessed the end of an exceptional era in 800m athletics last night.
Running in her sixth Olympics and her fifth final, Mozambican legend Maria Lourdes Mutola finished a distant fifth behind a pair of pony-tailed Kenyans, 17 and nine years her junior respectively.
Mutola has had an incredible career spanning 24 years. She is one of the greatest athletes produced by Africa and probably the best to come out of southern Africa. But last night, the ravages of time were there for all to see, and she was no match for winner Pamela Jelimo, who clocked 1 minute 54,87 to Mutola's 1:57,68. Second-placed Kenyan Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei clocked 1:56,07.
All of 15 years ago, Mutola clocked 1:55,43. Incredibly, that time would have given her second place last night. But there are too many laps in the legs now and it showed last night as she finished more than two seconds slower than that 1993 time.
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Congrats Makoena,train hard from here for the next olympics, I assure you all the other athletes in the world will be.