Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 121, August 2019 | Page 12

IN THE LEAD
at the Kagiso Sports Complex on the West Rand. The
second will be on 12 October at Orange Farm on the
Chris Hani Sports Complex. These events will include
a series of mile races in different age categories,
ranging from U13 to U19. “Ultimately, the goal is to
go national, but we have to start somewhere, and
with the help of Central Gauteng Athletics, this is the
first step,” says Zintle.
Living life to its fullest
Nicole Fuller
In 2017, Nicole Fuller received the news that every
woman dreads: “You have breast cancer.” For
someone who had been active all her life, having
started running competitively at the age of 13, this was
an enormous shock. As she explains, “I’d been healthy
all my life, I never smoked, never drank, so I thought,
this shouldn’t happen to me.” But it did happen, and
life was forever changed for Nicole and her family.
ATHLETIC PEDIGREE
Then tragedy struck
in December 2011.
Zet was killed in
a car accident in
Balfour, Mpumalanga,
where he had formed
an athletics club. His
greatest dream had always
been to discover the next ‘big
star’ of running, and that legacy
and dream has now been resurrected by his daughter,
Zintle Mokoka (nee Sinqe) and her brother.
Nicole’s athletic career had begun at school, doing
the 400m as a 13-year-old before gradually moving up
through the distances to the 800m and 1500m. Her
She can now be found twice a week at the school,
helping to coach the youngsters, and with so much
experience behind her, Nicole can certainly be of
value to the next generation of runners. Similarly, her
journey with cancer has also seen her become an
inspiration to many.
Nicole in her glory days,
racing the best in SA
Thus on 10 July, Zintle announced the formation of
the Zithulele Sinqe Foundation, with the objective
to use sport to help eradicate poverty by helping
to identify and nurture athletic talent. “But it goes
beyond talent ID and development,” says Zintle. “We
hope to get to a point where we not only assist in
athletic development, but also provide those talented
athletes with educational opportunities, so it does not
all end for them when the athletics career is over.”
She says that they hope to attract funding from
corporates and also to foster relationships with
secondary and tertiary education institutions, so that
the kids can be fed into the different organisations.
Ultimately the Foundation is looking to open an
academy with the objective of talent ID, development,
mentorship and other forms of support.
CALLING YOUNG MILERS
The first step in this dream is the hosting of two Zet
Sinqe races, with the first taking place on 25 August
12
In a career that spanned almost 25 years, Nicole
earned Springbok colours in cross country, track
and field and road running, and represented South
Africa on six occasions at the World Half Marathon
Championships. She eventually hung up her racers
after the birth of her second son, Greg, in order to
devote her time to raising her two boys.
Nicole found herself drawn back into the sport four years
ago, when Greg began running. “He started to run to
help his cardio for his swimming, but started to show
promise, so I did some research of who could coach him
close by. We found Marcel Viljoen of Fitness From Africa,
based at Fourways High School, and when Greg joined
his programme, I too became involved.”
LAYING FOUNDATIONS
It all started earlier this year, when Zintle was
approached by one of her father’s ‘finds,’ Folavio
Sehole, who called and told her, “Zintle, we need to
talk.” She had always wanted to do something to
honour her late father, and what he stood for, and
Folavio’s phone call came at the right time. “We met
and initially thought we should host a race, but felt
that a race would not quite accomplish what my father
stood for and dreamt of.”
road
career
started
after she
left school, and
she soon found herself
becoming one of the most feared half
marathon athletes in the country, and regularly having
some choice battles with the likes of Gwen van Lingen
(Griffiths), Truzanne Swanepoel, Elana Meyer, Colleen
De Reuck, Alta Verster and the then up-and-coming
René Kalmer.
ISSUE 121 AUGUST 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
THE BAD NEWS
Nicole still recalls how the news of her diagnosis
came as such a shock. “I had felt a lump in my
Launch of the
new Zithulele
Sinqe Foundation