Collen Mahlalela is heading to the 2025 Toyota SASAPD National Championships in Gqeberha this weekend with a simple plan in mind: win and break records, writes MARK LEMKE.
The 400m T47 specialist arrives at the Nationals in form, having set a fast time of 48.70 seconds at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria a fortnight ago. He now competes in Gqeberha with hopes of going even faster.
“I am going to the National Champs to win and to make my province (Mpumalanga) proud. I want to break the world record for the T47 400m. I am currently the world leader in times this year for my event, but I want to bring my time down to 45 seconds.”
The world record for the T47 400m is held by Aymane El Haddaoui of Morocco, who won gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics with a one-lap time of 46.65.
The 28-year-old upper-limb amputee runner also competed in Paris, in which he qualified for the T47 400m final, finishing in 49.95 seconds. This is after he produced a personal best 48.65 in the heats.
“Thanks to the experience at the Paralympics, I have gained more confidence and learned to be more courageous. I have spent more time training and maintaining my health at Tuks (University of Pretoria), and I am improving every day. I feel I am almost at my peak fitness.”
The lessons from Paris have already proved telling as Mahlalela’s times continue to get faster. With more than a second shaved off from his Paralympic final time, his current best for 2025 would have seen him finish fourth in that final, less than a second outside the bronze time of 47.97.
His pursuit of top spot in his classification does not rest after the National Championships. The 2025 World Para-Athletic Championships are scheduled for September in Singapore, where Mahlalela aims to compete as world record holder and a favourite to win the gold medal. His goal of running 45 seconds would see him clear the current world record Al Haddaoui, by over a second.
“When I was a four-month-old baby, I got burned while sleeping on the floor with three of my siblings. My mother was outside, and as it were back then, we used lamps to light up the house. It then fell from the table and the paraffin spilt on the floor, and that’s where the fire got ignited where we were sleeping. I was the only one that got burnt”, Mahlalela says of his journey.
He played football for a long time before being introduced to athletics and he has subsequently proven a natural, working hs way up to where he is now, one of the best in the world. The latest opportunity has now arrived in the form of the National Championships where he hopes to raise the bar ever higher for himself and his global competition.
Photo: ROGER SEDRES
