South Africa's Mhlengi Gwala competes in first Para World Cup in Funchal

by Doug Gray on 21 Oct, 2019 09:46

The victim of a vicious attack in Durban in March 2018 that almost cost him his leg, former South African Age-Group athlete Mhlengi Gwala‘s inspirational story of recovery from adversity continued at the weekend, as he raced in the PTS5 category at the 2019 Funchal Paratriathlon World Cup. His first experience racing at that level was an eye-opener, but has given him plenty of food for thought as he returns home to train and prepare for the 2020 season.

“It was a very hard race for me,” admitted Gwala, “the guys were so fast and I didn’t have a good race. Now i need to go home and work hard on my training, but it was a good experience. I know what I need to do next time.”

Home for the 28-year-old is the KwaZulu-Natal province on South Africa’s east coast. Taken to hospital after the incident that happened while out bike training, it was compatriot Henri Schoeman among the members of the triathlon family to help spread the word of Mhlengi’s plight, Schoeman’s appeal on social media receiving support from around the world.

As a 25-29 Age-Grouper at the 2017 Rotterdam Grand Final six months beforehand, Mhlengi Gwala had recorded the 13th fastest split for the 10km run at 34m25s. Once surgery was finalised on his horrific leg injury, he knew that it was always likely to be running that would present the biggest challenge to get back to anywhere near his previous level.

After a provisional PTS5 classification for Funchal, the coming months and the start of next season will be hugely important for shaping Gwala’s paratriathlon career. “The swim is okay and the bike is okay, but I have to land on the heel more because I can feel the strength isn’t there when I am running, i’m always testing it,” he told ITU earlier this year. “Of course my dream now is to reach Tokyo 2020. It is every athlete’s dream to compete at that level.”

See all of the Funchal Paratriathlon World Cup results here

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Related Event: 2019 Funchal ITU Paratriathlon World Cup

19 - 20 Oct, 2019 • event page • all results

Results: PTWC Men
1.	Florian Brungraber H2	AUT	01:05:38
2.	Benjamin Lenatz H1	GER	01:06:42
3.	Pier Alberto Buccoliero H2	ITA	01:12:40
4.	Fernando Aranha H2	BRA	01:13:35
5.	Joshua Landmann H2	GBR	01:18:30

Results: PTWC Women
1.	Eva María Moral Pedrero H1	ESP	01:18:09
2.	Jessica Ferreira H1	BRA	01:19:28
3.	Christiane Reppe H2	GER	01:19:50
4.	Margret Ijdema H1	NED	01:20:30
5.	Mona Francis H2	FRA	01:23:24

Results: PTS2 Men
1.	Andrew Lewis	GBR	01:13:55
2.	Stuart Meikle	GBR	01:15:18
3.	Gianluca Valori	ITA	01:18:58
4.	Jose Joaquín Martínez Rincon	ESP	01:40:02

Results: PTS2 Women
1.	Melissa Stockwell	USA	01:25:43
2.	Veronica Yoko Plebani	ITA	01:28:15
3.	Cécile Saboureau	FRA	01:32:35

Results: PTS3 Men
1.	Daniel Molina	ESP	01:10:04
2.	Nico Van Der Burgt	NED	01:10:32
3.	Michael Herter	FRA	01:19:29
4.	Kini Carrasco	ESP	01:27:49
5.	José Mendonça	POR	01:44:39

Results: PTS4 Men
1.	Mikhail Kolmakov	RUS	01:05:12
2.	Jorge Luis Fonseca	BRA	01:06:02
3.	Sebastian Engwald Jensen	DEN	01:06:33
4.	Eric Mcelvenny	USA	01:08:10
5.	Hávard Vatnhamar	DEN	01:09:19

Results: PTS4 Women
1.	Kelly Elmlinger	USA	01:17:16
2.	Svetlana Karama	RUS	01:37:25

Results: PTS5 Men
1.	Carlos Rafael Viana	BRA	01:00:25
2.	Guenther Matzinger	AUT	01:00:54
3.	Ronan Cordeiro	BRA	01:01:15
4.	Aleksandr Konyshev	RUS	01:01:39
5.	Filipe Marques	POR	01:03:14

Results: PTS5 Women
1.	Gwladys Lemoussu	FRA	01:14:43
2.	Anna Bychkova	RUS	01:18:07
3.	Petra Lévay	HUN	01:18:16

Results: PTVI Men
1.	Dave Ellis B3	GBR	01:04:28
2.	Antoine Perel B1	FRA	01:05:24
3.	Lazar Filipovic B2	SRB	01:05:50
4.	Satoru Yoneoka B1	JPN	01:06:01
5.	Anatolii Varfolomieiev B1	UKR	01:06:34