University of Johannesburg student Puseletso Mabote set the recent Toyota SASAPD National Championships in Stellenbosch alight, establishing a new world record in the T63 400m after blazing round the track in a speedy 60.74 seconds.
Tell us about the race where you broke the 400m world record – were you expecting it?
The race all in all did exactly what we needed it to do. We were expecting to run relatively around that range in time and we were running the 400 as a strength builder for the season and the following season, next year. So it did what we intended it to do, and the world record was a bonus afterwards. So we’ re thankful for it, but it wasn ' t the main goal, it was just an end product.
for mighty Mabote
Is the 400 becoming more of a focus now or do you still prefer the shorter sprints?
The 400 has never been a focus to me in particular. I don ' t think it ever will be a focus … because I don ' t really enjoy the 400. It ' s a very painful event and you have to have a different kind of mindset, which I don ' t have, to run the 400. It ' s not a passion of mine. And another reason why I cannot and will not be focusing on the 400 would be the fact that it ' s not available for my class on the Paralympic or world stage, so it would be completely pointless for me to focus on an event that is not available for me at the highest level. I ' d much rather spend my time on something attainable rather than something that is not even an option in the long run.
What does it mean to have another world record after breaking others in the 200m?
Adding this particular world record to the others that I ' ve broken is a good sign of what is to come. It shows that I ' m not done growing in the sport, into my body, and I ' m not done improving in the sport that I do. So what this means for the future is that we are able to reach higher thresholds and reach heights that we couldn ' t reach … putting us in a better position for highlevel competitions like LA 2028. And yes, we are intending on breaking more world records in future, particularly the T63 100m world record, which is standing at 11.95 at the moment. And with the signs that my coach is seeing in practice and in the gym, he ' s fairly positive that it is possible. I just need to execute it in the race.
What ' s next for you now?
What ' s next now is trying to get into more highlevel competitions, testing myself against the best and seeing where I am fitness-wise, mental-wise, and trying to figure out where I ' m going in the sport. And with that, will provide us with some fantastic experience leading up to LA, which is the main goal of what we are doing this year and the next. The focal point at the moment is LA 2028, and we are looking forward to that. www. modernathlete. co. za 35