Imagine winning a gold medal at the South African Athletics Championships not once actually training in the event in which you are victorious.

That is indeed what Chris Moleya (Tuks) did in 2014 when he won the high jump during the South African Junior and Youth Championships in Stellenbosch. He jumped 1.95m to clinch gold in the under-18 age group. There is a story to be told about his heroic exploit.

Since then he went on to win the South African junior high jump title as well. This season he is the South African senior champion. A definite highlight was winning a silver medal at the recent African Championships it meant he qualified to compete at the IAAF Inter-Continental Cup in Ostrava (8-9 September).

If ever anyone can claim to have started from humble beginnings it is Moleya. He grew up in a small village outside Zebediela in Limpopo. At the athletics club where he trained he was the only high jumper. But there was one big problem. The facilities were minimal. There definitely was no high bar to try and get over. More importantly, there was no mat to land on for Moleya should he decide to jump. 

So what to do? Not wanting to risk injuries Moleya did what all his club mates did. He ran and ran and ran while remaining to be the only high jumper. The only time he jumped was during competitions, and that did not happen often.

When asked how he managed to win the first of his three South African titles without proper training Moleya’s honest answer is that he is driven by hunger to be the best in whatever he does. 

“I want to succeed. No matter what I am doing. It is a matter of pride to me,” explained the Tuks-athlete.

“I also owe a lot to my uncle, Tau, who always kept on encouraging me and made sure that I remained disciplined. What saddens me is that there are so many other talented athletes in the village where I come from. However, none of them will make it to the 'big league' due to a lack of proper training facilities and coaching.  Caster (Semenya) and I are possibly currently the only two athletes of Limpopo who are competing internationally. And that is not right. There should be more of us doing so.”

Moleya admits to it being difficult to give up playing football to just focus on athletics. 

“In my village, the two most popular sports are football and running. When not playing football my uncle at first encouraged me to participate in the village races, usually over 800m, but I was never any good. That is why he decided I should become a high jumper.
 
“I was quite a good football player. If I had stuck to it, I might have made it. Quite a few of my village’s players are currently playing in the PSL. One of my best friends and mentor is Hlompho Kekana who grew up on the same street as I.  He is now playing for Mamelodi Sundowns.  I owe him big time. He also always encouraged me and told me that I got what it takes to become one of the best high jumpers.”

If fully rested Moleya is confident of jumping 2.30m, but he is not sure whether he will do so during the Inter-Continental Cup. His best height so far is 2.26m. 

“My coach, Hugo Badenhorst, keeps on telling me that I got real talent and that I should make the most of it. I know there is a big jump that is just waiting to happen. When it is, I don’t know. I just need to keep on being positive. On a good day, I might even jump 2.35m. But then again I don’t want to get obsessed about jumping a specific height.”

When competing Moleya’s never allows other competitors to get to his head which is a fantastic character trait to possess.

Badenhorst only started to coach Moleya again from March. 

“As far I am concerned Chris is as talented as the former world champion, Jacques Freitag, was if not more. What impresses me about Chris is his self-believe. He has set himself specific goals, and he is going to achieve all of it. But I don’t want him to be under pressure. The plan is that he should only be at his best in 2024.”

Moleya is planning to study Sports Management next year at Tuks.