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22 December 2022 | Story Jóhann Thormählen | Photo Anja Aucamp
Peter Makgato
Peter Makgato showed true perseverance in coming back after being out of action for more than a year with an Achilles tendon injury. The Kovsie long jumper won a bronze medal at the South African Championships in 2022.

If it wasn’t for Peter Makgato’s UFS support system, he would have been lost to South African athletics. The road of recovery after a serious injury can be lonesome, but he was never alone.

The promising long jumper had to learn to walk again after the injury to his Achilles tendon and could only compete more than a year after his dreams were shattered in November 2020.

Only months after returning to jumping in 2022, he was winning medals again.

Keeping me focused

“Without KovsieSport, I believe I would have hung up my spikes after that injury,” says Makgato. “Throughout the entire journey back, I had support from my coach (Emmarie Prinsloo; Head of KovsieSport Jumping Academy) and Oom DB (Prinsloo; Head of Athletics at KovsieSport).”

He also praises “the expert medical help” from Kovsie Health and says he went through nothing alone. “My progress was monitored by a team that knew me before the injury and this meant they were able to keep me focused on the progress and not on the injury.”

Although he had injuries before, Makgato says the emotional challenges were much bigger. “What really helped me were a few words from Wayde van Niekerk days after my operation when I went back to the track on crutches. He told me not to lose my head.

“That is the best advice you can give someone in my position. Physically I was broken, I had to make sure that mentally I fought to stay above the waters.”

Bigger goals in mind

He was only able to walk again from May 2021, started rehab in August 2021, and was running properly by December 2021.

He was only able to jump competitively again in March 2022, and a month later claimed a bronze medal at the South African Championships (7,47 m). This was followed by a USSA bronze in May 2022 (7,46 m).

“I had bigger goals in mind. Now that I look back, I realise that for a person who could not even run properly five months before and who had little preparation time, I was doing pretty good.”

And now the Master of Laws student has his sights on bigger things again: The World Athletics Championships next year and the Olympic Games in 2024.

News Archive

Kovsies in second and third place at USSA Cross-Country Championships
2010-09-30

 In the Kovsie women’s cross-country team were, from the left: Thandi Malindi, Maryna Swanepoel and Lettie Dhlamini.
 
In the Kovsie men cross-country team, who participated in the recent USSA Cross-Country Championships in Port Elizabeth, are from the left: Ratlale Mokone, Khothatso Mokone, Boy Soke and Johan Cronjé.

The University of the Free State (UFS) entered both a men’s and a women’s team in the recent USSA Cross-Country Championships that took place at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth.

 

According to Ms Sarina Cronjé from KovieSport at the UFS, both teams did extremely well. Kovsies men came second in the men’s 4 km race as well as the 4x5 km road relay and our women finished third in the 8 km race.

 

Congratulations to Boy Soke (2nd), Johan Cronjé (3rd), Ratlale Kokone (7th) and Khothatso Mokone (14th) who came second in the team competition of the 4 km race with 26 penalty points against the 22 penalty points of the Pukke, who won the team competition. Our men’s B-team with Windy Jonas (17), Antonie Peens (20), Gerrit Viljoen (31) and Laurens van der Merwe (33) ended in sixth place in the 4 km team competition.

 

Our women finished third in the 8 km team competition with 31 penalty points. Thandi Malindi (9th), Maryna Swanepoel (10th) and Lettie Dhlamini (12th) were the team members.

 

“To each and every athlete a word of appreciation for the manner in which you ran, as well as the guts you have shown on a difficult course in very windy conditions,” said Ms Cronjé.

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