Mokoka not downbeat after world champs
Ace proud of 16th-place finish
You would expect SA longdistance runner Stephen Mokoka to be disappointed after finishing 16th at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia, Spain on Saturday.
However, Mokoka feels he performed well at the 21km global event where SA’s medal drought was extended to 19 years. Mokoka was the first South African home, clocking 1:01.26.
“I think I did very well. I am not disappointed about that [finishing 16th]. In Cardiff [in the same race in 2016], I finished in position 10 and this year I dropped but still I am feeling proud because the competition was very tough,” Mokoka told Sowetan yesterday.
Though his time in Valencia was the second quickest by a South African at the global championships in the last 16 years, the 33-year-old athlete missed a chance to better his personal best by just 0.46 seconds.
“I wanted to improve my personal best but it did not happen. I was a bit frustrated about that, but the overall performance was good,” noted Mokoka.
His best position at the global 21km championships was at the 2009 and
2010 editions in Birmingham, England and Bulgaria’s Dobrich, as he finished eighth at both events.
Mokoka has since switched his focus to the Commonwealth Games from next week.
He will be competing in 10km in three weeks’ time.
Meanwhile, Athletics SA president Aleck Skhosana, feels local runners are gradually improving in such disciplines, despite the country yet again returning emptyhanded from the global event.
“It is promising to see the athletes improving because that’s what we want in order to lift the standards,” he said.
Hendrick Ramaala was the last South African to win a medal at the Half Marathon Championships, in 1999.
‘ ‘ I wanted to improve my personal best but it did not happen