The 21-year-old Chris Moleya (Tuks) could just win his first gold medal in the high jump at the African Athletics Championships in Asaba, Nigeria.
He certainly has the credentials. At the IAAF World Cup in London he was fourth, and in a competition, in Madrid, he finished third jumping 2.26m. In 2015 as an 18-year old he competed at the All African Games and won the bronze medal. This proves that he is indeed not intimidated when he competes internationally.
The season’s statistics certainly favours Moleya to be a medal contender during the African Championships. Only Kenya’s Mathew Sawe who jumped 2.30m can so far boast with a better performance.
The one thing that might count against the Tuks-athlete is being involved in an unexpected “marathon”. By Monday he and his South African teammates have already been travelling for 55 hours to get to Asaba. The less said about it, the better. One can just hope that the athletes will have recovered by tomorrow when they started to compete.
If fully rested Moleya is confident of jumping 2.30m.
“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.”
Moleya grew up in Zebediela in the Limpopo. Like most of his friends, he was at first an avid football player who also participated in athletics.
“I started high jump when I was 13 years old. Four years later I won the first national title that changed everything for me. My coach arranged for me to go and study at Prestige College,” said Moleya who is hoping to study sports science next year at Tuks.
What excites Badenhorst is that Moleya has up to now never really done any serious training. His achievements are apparently due to pure talent and hunger to be the best.
“I only started to coach Chris 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.”
Badenhorst also coaches the 18-year old Yvonne Robson who won a silver medal at this year’s national championships. The Tuks athlete will also be competing at the African Championships.
The former modern dancing world champion’s best height so far is 1.80m. However, Badenhorst predicts that she is capable of doing better.
“Her performances during training indicate that she can do 1.90m it is just a matter of her believing.”
Badenhorst describes Robson as a fighter.
“During a competition in Angola, she needed to jump 1.80m to take the gold medal. She failed with her first two attempts but then succeeded in doing so with her third jump. That to me is the sign of a champion in the making,” said Badenhorst.
Virtual Campus
Get Social With Us
Download the UP Mobile App