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Peter Makgato - from despair to medals

22 December 2022 | Story Jóhann Thormählen | Photo Anja Aucamp

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

UFS Convocation to convene

2014-04-03

You are invited to attend this meeting convened at the request of the President of the Convocation, Prof Johan Grobbelaar.

The agenda is:

1. To discuss the recent events on the Bloemfontein Campus, as well as the way in which management handled them, and make decisions about these.
2. The election of a representative of the Convocation on the Council of the UFS. The term of the incumbent, Paul Colditz, expires in October 2014. Colditz is available for re-election.

According to the Statute of the UFS, published in the Government Gazette, 27 August 2010, No 33490, Volume 542, members of the Convocation are defined as:

• All Alumni, thus current and former students who obtained a formal qualification at the UFS.
• All permanent academic staff of the UFS, from appointment level of lecturer to professor, who are not necessarily an alumnus of the UFS.
• All permanent support service staff of the UFS, from appointment level of Deputy Director to Rector and Vice-Chancellor, who are not necessarily an alumnus of the UFS.

Date: Tuesday 15 April 2014
Time: 18:00
Place: Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus

For further information, contact alumni@ufs.ac.za / +27(0)51 4019343.

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