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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

Wayde, Karla shine again at KovsieSport gala night
2016-10-27

Description: Wayde en Karla Tags: Wayde en Karla

Tannie Ans Botha, Wayde van Niekerk’s coach,
received a special award from KovsieSport
at the annual Sport Stars Awards ceremony.
From the left, are: DB Prinsloo, Director of
KovsieSport, Botha, and Van Niekerk.
Photo: Hannes Naude


The choice of Wayde van Niekerk as Sportsman of the Year was no surprise, but with this fourth consecutive title he joins select company at the University of the Free State (UFS). The 400 m Olympic champion equalled Franz Kruger’s record for the highest number of successive sports awards for men.

In total, Kruger (discus) was named Sportsman of the Year five times – 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002. He is also the most awarded Kovsie sportsman.

Blose and Puren rewarded as junior stars
On 20 October 2016, Van Niekerk and the Protea netball player Karla Mostert were honoured as Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year at Leopards & Lace in Bloemfontein for a second consecutive year.

It was only the second time that KovsieSport awarded the same sports stars two years in a row – formerly it was Van Niekerk and the Protea netball captain, Maryka Holtzhausen (2013 and 2014).

Kwenzo Blose, who played for the South Africa U20 rugby team at the Junior World Cup, was named Junior Sportsman. The South Africa U21 netball captain Alicia Puren, who helped her team qualify for the 2017 U21 World Cup tournament, was crowned Junior Sportswoman for 2016.

“Wayde van Niekerk gained
unprecedented international
fame, which added untold
value to the KovsieSport
brand.”

Prinsloo proud of high quality
According to DB Prinsloo, director of KovsieSport, his department is proud of the high quality of its sports stars. “Wayde van Niekerk gained unprecedented international fame, which added untold value to the KovsieSport brand. Although Karla Mostert might have experienced tougher opposition from her fellow nominees, she was a real star for the Protea netball team.”

To be awarded, a sports star should be a registered UFS student and comply with specific academic requirements. Van Niekerk (BA Marketing), Mostert (masters in Dietetics), Blose (BA Law), and Puren (Education) meet these requirements.

In order to determine the winners, KovsieSport also uses criteria such as international participation, a contribution to UFS awareness, and excellence in sport.

“To be awarded, a sports star
should be a registered UFS
student and comply with specific
academic requirements.”

Cronjé still holds overall record
Sarina Cronjé holds the record for the most successive UFS awards (five).

Cronjé, a Springbok track and cross-country athlete, was Sportswoman of the Year from 1977 to 1981. The number of titles held by this senior officer at KovsieSport is the most by a woman.

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