In just two weeks life has changed dramatically for new South Africa sprint king Simon Magakwe. The 23-year-old athlete arrived at the South African Championships staged in Stellenbosch just more than 10 days ago with little to his name. Today he is being head-hunted by a coterie of sports agents keen to represent him.
”All his life’s possessions were stuffed in a Shoprite Checkers carrier bag,” Athletics South Africa (ASA) president Leonard Chuene said.
Only two weeks ago he shared a single room with his mother, who is a domestic worker in Carltonville. Then the only job he knew was at home affairs. He was not even a trainee immigration officer, but a photographic vendor eking out a living from hustling to take passport photos outside the home affairs building.
”I passed matric, but there was no money for me to carry on with my education and I was forced to engage in menial jobs for survival,” he said.
But March 13 heralded a new era in his life. Running in hand-me-down spikes from former 800m champion Hezekiel Sepeng, the little-known sprinter literally hit the big time when he clocked 10.21 — an IAAF ”A” Standard qualifying time — to win the 100m.
Today Magakwe is preparing to catch his first flight, not only to his immediate destination, Europe, but possibly to a new life for him and the only family he has — his mother. He will represent South Africa at the World Championships in the German capital of Berlin in August. His amazing talent on the track is now a national beacon of medal hope on the tough international circuit.
According to Wilfred Daniels, the ASA coordinator, June and July will be relatively busy months for the new kid on the block. ”Simon will have the opportunity to participate in a few races on the European circuit that should gear him for the World Champs,” said Daniels.
His relief at having a more secure future was evident when the Mail & Guardian tracked him down to his new temporary home at the plush High Performance Centre (HPC) in Pretoria this week.
His achievement is remarkable for two reasons. First, the gifted sprinter had to prove himself twice before being declared the winner.
”I learned with shock well after the race that we had to rerun because there was a false start. Two shots are immediately fired when there is false start,” said Magakwe.
Any doubts about his superiority in this short distance were laid to rest at the second attempt when he improved on his first time of 10,32 to romp home with the IAAF ”A” qualifying time.
”I actually thanked the guy who complained because I then ran a faster time.”
Second and more significantly, the Itsosseng-born wonder had never received professional coaching or stepped into a gym prior to his use of the state-of-the-art HPC.
Still, Magakwe’s rise to prominence raises questions in a sport that had only one Olympic medal to show for the bloated team that represented the country in Beijing last year. Where has he been? Why has it taken ASA so long to discover this obviously talented athlete?
Chuene was honest enough to acknowledge that there are some serious shortcomings within his organisation. ”This is a wake-up call. I know there are some people who would want to claim that they have known about Simon for some time. This is not true. I, for one, saw him only in the last two weeks.
”There is an obvious need to improve our talent scouting and reach even the remotest areas of our country,” he said.
Maybe the ASA boss will take solace in the fact that Magakwe never really took athletics seriously either. ”I have been playing social football and only began to train for the 100m and 200m in December after a knee injury in a R300 money game,” he said.
Thank goodness for that football injury that turned him to athletics. There is renewed optimism in the South African sprints that last resonated with the name Matthew Quinn in 2001.
ASA has taken the sprinter under its wing and he is being exposed to the best possible coaching in the sport. Magakwe is undergoing the necessary medical checkups and will receive assistance in furthering his education should he choose to remain in the ASA programme.
The transformation of his life in the past two weeks has no doubt shaped the direction of his future. ”I am a full-time, committed athlete now and that means no more football. My aim is to run the 100m in 10 seconds flat before the end of this year and break the South Africa record in the distance. I know this is achievable running against top athletes,” said Magakwe.
Daniels said the potential to achieve these goals is there, given the times the sprinter ran in Stellenbosch — with no professional training or scientific approach to the sport. Johan Roussow set the 100m dash record back in 1988 with a time of 10,06.
The attention heaped on Magakwe in the past two weeks has not only brought tears of joy to his mother, it has also a triggered interest from agents who are keen to ”market” him.
However, Daniels vowed that the ASA would protect their new-found rough diamond from the distraction of unscrupulous sharks.