Mpumalanga para-athletes rewrite the SASAPD history books

National and continental records were broken at the South African Sports Association for Physically Disabled (SASAPD) nationals in Gqeberha when a trio of Mpumalanga athletes took aim and equalled or broke no fewer than five records with a haul of seven gold medals.

Stiaan Erasmus of eMalahleni, and Conrad Otto and Juané le Roux of Mbombela were Mpumalanga’s three competing athletes at the SASAPD nationals.

The SASAPD National Championships took place from March 29 to April 1, where para-athletes from all around the country put on their best performances in search of glory.

These included the three musketeers from Mpumalanga, all of whom were dominant on the athletics field. Conrad (15), the youngest of the three, competed in the U17 age group under the F13 category for athletes with visual impairment.

In the discus item he reached a distance of 31.97m, winning his first gold medal of the week. Thereafter he launched the shot put a whopping 11.2m to not only win gold, but to also set a new South African record in his age group and category. Conrad is currently being homeschooled and is in grade 9.

Erasmus (19), who is the only one of the three no longer in high school, competed in the open age group under the F44 category for athletes with lower limb impairments. He is an alumnus of HTS Witbank and is currently furthering his studies through CTU Training Solutions.

Erasmus dominated the field in the discus and shot put items too, breaking the South African record in both disciplines. In the discus, Erasmus threw a brilliant 35.39m, followed by 11.72m in the shot put item, earning gold in both.

Last but not least, Juané (17), a matric learner at Hoërskool Nelspruit, competed in the U20 age group within the F46 category for athletes with upper limb impairments.

She also competed in discus and shot put, with the addition of javelin. Juané won gold in each of the three, rewriting the history books in the process too.

She heaved the shot put 9.92m before she equalled the South African record in the javelin event with a top distance of 34.72m. But, it was in the discus where Juané truly made her mark. Launching the discus a staggering 34.52m, the Nellies athlete threw her way to the top of the pops earning a new African record in the process too.

This trio of para-athletes has undoubtedly made the province proud through their record-breaking performances.