Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 52, November 2013 | Page 6
Editor’s Letter
Hero Worship
A
fter a number of years working as a journo
and editor in the running industry, I can look
back on a long list of top athletes and inspiring
weekend warriors that I have been privileged to
meet and interview, but one name has stayed on
my ‘Interview Bucket List’ for far too many years.
This month, I ?nally got to tick that name off
when I caught up with 1996 Olympic Marathon
gold medallist and former SA marathon record
holder Josiah Thugwane, our Living Legend subject
on page 16.
I can remember being glued to the TV back in
1996, watching as the three South Africans took
the race to the rest of the world’s top marathoners
and blew the race wide open – and I’m sure I am
one of many South Africans who was shouting
“Go, Josiah, go!” at the TV as he made his decisive
break with just two kays to go and then held onto
the smallest of gaps for the next few agonisingly
brilliant minutes. The man has been one of my
running heroes ever since.
Now I would have loved to meet the great man
face to face, but being at opposite ends of the
country meant we had to talk via telephone,
which initially had me worried about the language
barrier, since I can remember stories about him
barely being able to speak English at the time
of his big win. But Josiah has come a long, long
way since 1996. Finding himself thrust into
the limelight, travelling the world and ?elding
interview after interview, the diminutive runner
from Mpumalanga, who had worked for minimum
wage on the mines most of his adult life, decided
that he needed to learn to speak English, and make
the most of this new-found fame and fortune. The
rest, as they say, is history.
greatest rags-to-riches good news stories from the
running world. I hope my article does him justice,
because the challenge for us writers is always t ?)??????????????????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????$?????)????????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????)??????()AU 1%M!IL)5???? ??)
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