THE ED ’ S DESK the ed ’ s desk by SEAN FALCONER
Sean Falconer
THE ED ’ S DESK the ed ’ s desk by SEAN FALCONER
Awesome Athletics
I love watching track and field athletics – from Olympics down to local school meets – because there is an ‘ X factor ’ involved when athletes pit pure speed , stamina , strength and technique against one another , and there are often incredible human stories at play behind each event . Sadly , however , track and field does not enjoy as much coverage as I think it deserves in South Africa . Many publications and platforms ignore athletics 90 % of the time , but suddenly ‘ go big ’ on track when the Olympics take place every four years , and ( sometimes ) the World Champs every two years . Meanwhile , Modern Athlete is trying to give track and field year-round coverage , even in the off-season months , and I am proud of that .
Well , as you may have seen by now , we ’ ve gone even bigger on track in this edition , because the World Athletics Championships took place in Budapest , Hungary this past month . In between work commitments , I watched as much as I could , once again enthralled by the world ’ s best athletes . To list all the highlights here would take up my whole Ed ’ s Letter , but I ’ d like to make special mention of the women ’ s pole vault competition . content ’ that you ’ ll never see coming from the syndicated international broadcasters covering the event . We ’ ve re-used some of their interviews in this edition of the mag , so click and watch .
Down Memory Lane
Also in this mag , you ’ ll read about Eugene Lekay ’ s 25-year journey to his Green Number at the Comrades Marathon . I met Eugene on the Comrades train in 2001 – I travelled from Cape Town to Durban with the athletes to write a story about the experience – and still regularly chat to him at races all these years later . Eugene was one of the athletes I interviewed on the journey back , because he narrowly missed the final 11-hour cut-off , in spite of an all-out sprint to make it over the line and claim a third medal . Little did any of us know then that his quest to finish his 10th Comrades would take another two decades … and make another terrific story for me to tell .
This mag has another story that really ‘ speaks ’ to me . A few years back I was invited by adidas to fly up to Joburg and participate in the Ponte Tower Challenge , while checking out some of their new shoes and kit . The challenge was to run up the stairs to the top of the famous residential tower – that ’ s more than 50 stories of stairs – but it was actually not as hard as I expected , and the view was definitely worth it . So , when Juliana Ambrosi mailed me to ask if I wanted to use her article about tackling this challenge , I said “ Send it !”
Sad News About Mbuli
Shortly before wrapping up this edition , we heard the tragic news that star athlete Mbuleli Mathanga had passed away . I MC ’ ed the postrace press conference after he won the Totalsports Two Oceans Half Marathon earlier this year , and found him to be a man of few words , who preferred to let his running do his talking for him , and yet there was a quiet strength that shone through him . We will publish an in-memoriam piece in the next edition , but for now , the whole team at Modern Athlete sends it condolences to his family , friends , clubmates and fellow runners . Rest in Peace , Mbuli .
Sean Falconer
First we had incredible tension as defending World Champ Katie Moon of the USA and Australia ’ s Nina Kennedy matched each other height for height , and then we saw wonderful camaraderie and sheer emotion when they agreed to share the gold medal instead of going to a jump-off . It brought back memories of Bahrain ’ s Mutaz Barshim and Italy ’ s Gianmarco Tamberi sharing the men ’ s high jump gold medal at the 2021 Olympics , but whereas Tamberi ’ s crazy celebrations in 2021 ( and now again in Budapest ) were awesome to watch , Moon and Kennedy ’ s quieter and yet just as emotional celebrations really pulled at my heartstrings .
On a related note , these World Champs were a real milestone for Modern Athlete , as it was the first time we were ‘ on the ground ’ at a global meet , thanks to a generous sponsorship by PUMA South Africa . We sent Norrie Williamson and Karien Jonkheere to Hungary and they did a superb job of interviewing athletes and filing vids , pics and articles to our various platforms , often producing unique ‘ local
The late Mbuleli Mathanga winning the 2023 Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon
Images : Chris Hitchcock , Tobias Ginsberg
6 ISSUE 161 | www . modernathlete . co . za