ST. JOSEPH’S LONG JUMPER SHINES IN SSSA CHAMPS

MBABANE – Disability sport has an athletic hero in the making. She is a living example that disability was not the end of the world.

That is St. Joseph’s High School pupil, Nontsikelelo Gamedze who stunned all in the Swaziland Schools Sports Association (SSSA)/Swaziland Sugar Association (SSA) Athletics Regional Championships on Wednesday at Somhlolo National Stadium.

She is a Long Jump athlete who has a mental disability.
However, that has not stopped her from achieving in her passion – long jump. On the fateful day, she jumped 4.13 metres to finish second as she represented Manzini.

Her school is commonly known as Mzimpofu and mainly deals with disabled pupils.
“This is a big achievement for her and the school as a whole as well as the sporting fraternity in the country,” said her teacher Mandla Hlanze who could not hide that he was overjoyed and stunned by Gamedze’s performance.

In her own words, Gamedze said ‘I had been very passionate about long jump from a young age in Primary School and always practiced. I was well prepared for this competition as I set myself a goal to qualify to be part of the team to represent the country in South Africa on April 17’.
She said since she started jumping from primary school, she has never looked back and had some vigorous training for the schools competition. It was also established that she could be the first pupil to compete so well in the sport while having a disability and stood a good chance of representing the country if she repeats her feat in the finals next week.

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