SA's Road to Rio: Lebogang Shange

Lebogang only took up the sport of race walking relatively late, having first been exposed to it in 2009 and this confident young man has now carved out a path for himself towards realising his Olympic dream.

The Tuks High Performance Centre athlete had humble beginnings in Orange Farm in the Vaal Triangle, after which his family re-located to Soweto.

Shange said he was attracted to the sport of race walking as a teenager after watching the 50km race of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

"As I am slightly lazy by nature, watching the race intrigued me. It looked so easy, like a walk in the park. It was hard to believe that it is an Olympic Sport," quipped Shange.

But as he was soon to realise, there was much more to race walking than first met the eye.

He was forced to be a self-starter for much of his adult life thus far, having lost both his parents in quick succession in 2009 and 2010.

Luckily higher forces were watching over him and he was taken in by a family of race walkers, Bob and Brenda Wakfer in 2010.

Their benevolence was unconditional and among other things, the Wakfer family assisted Lebogang in becoming proficient in English, sent him for driving lessons and provided transport to and from training sessions at the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg.

As fate would have it, Bob Wakfer passed away in 2012, which Lebogang admitted was a traumatic blow and he was again left without a mentor and fatherly figure.

Shange tells us that things really started happening when he met up with former Olympic race walker Chris Britz and then became a sponsored athlete at the Pretoria University's High Performance Centre.

Sports science and strength and conditioning training became a part of his life at the HPC, as did mental conditioning.

Enter Monja Human, a sports psychologist at the HPC, who Shange has exceptionally high praise for.

The mutual trust and sharing his life and personal thoughts with a virtual stranger, however, didn't sit well with a young kid from the townships initially.

"I must admit that I, especially coming from a township, was sceptical at first about going to see a psychologist. I thought it was only crazy people who did so, but she totally changed my perception about psychology," recalled Shange.

"Monja helped me believe in my abilities as a race walker and to be fearless when I race. More importantly, she taught me how to stay focused and calm when I race and not to get intimidated by the athletes against whom I am racing. She keeps emphasizing that it is important that I stick to my race plan."

Shange is one of four competitive South African race walkers, the others being Marc Mundell, Wayne Snyman and Anel Oosthuizen, who have all qualified for the Rio Olympics and are all coached by Britz.

HIGHLIGHTS:

11th in the World Championships in Beijing

First in the African Championships.

New SA record at the Australian 20km Race Walking Championships in Adelaide (finished second behind Dane-Bird-Smith of Australia).

Personal bests in three major races -- Canberra (10 000m track) and improved his time again at another meet in Canberra.

Winner 20km race walk -- South African Senior Athletics Championship in Stellenbosch, just 36 seconds outside SA record.

Second in the 20km IAAF Race Walking event in Rio Maior, Portugal.

Won the IAAF 20km Race Walking Challenge in Dudinska, Slovakia, becoming the first South African athlete to win a race in the IAAF series.

GET TO KNOW LEBOGANG:

Were you coached by a professional coach when you started your career?

No

What was the most valuable thing you learnt from your coach?

To believe in myself and be patient

When did you turn professional? 

June of 2009

Favourite sportsperson to watch while you were growing up?

Makhaya Ntini

What made you choose the sport you are currently participating in?

I thought it was a sport for lazy people

Favourite cartoon as a kid? 

SpongeBob & Goofy

Favourite colour? 

Blue

Favourite food before a big competition? 

Pasta

Are you studying or working, if so doing what? 

No

Favourite Music? 

Hip-Hop, house and kwaito

When you were growing up what did you want to be? 

An engineer

Your most treasured possession/s? 

My fitness

What do you normally eat for breakfast? 

Muesli, yogurt and Futurelife

My last meal would be? 

Pap and T-bone steak

My signature dish is? 

Pasta

Favourite holiday destination? 

Italy

What would you buy with your last R50? 

Airtime

Apart from sport, what are your other interests? 

Mining & farming

What drives you as an athlete? 

The vision of myself winning a gold medal at the Olympics

(Courtesy of HPC)