Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesotho’s top marathon athlete and 2020 Tokyo Olympian ‘Neheng Khatala will compete at the ABSA Cape Town 12Km City Run marathon on November 21st. The marathon will start next weekend in Cape Town, South
Africa (SA). Khatala revealed to Informative Sport on Wednesday that this is her short distance marathon and it will be her first marathon that covers 12km.
She is well-known for 10Km and 21Km running races. “I will be fully sponsored by LNOC [Lesotho National Olympic Committee] which will cater for all necessities such as food, accommodation and transport,” she said and
hastened to say she hopes to win the race. Khatala showed that her preparations for the race are in progress; saying she will start trainings next week as now she is slightly knocked down
by common cold. She said the Cape Town 12Km City Run Marathon will help her to improve speed and race performance so that she will be able to succeed in the
upcoming marathons. “My performance in this marathon will help me to know my stand, fitness and to recover the encountered challenges because I am going to
compete with the fastest athletes,” she noted. Asked about other upcoming marathons on her schedule, Khatala said next year she will be participating at the marathon to be hosted in Spain
or China and the coming African Union Sports Commission (AUSC) Region 5 Games where she will motivate and be supportive to youth who will be participating.
Khatala disclosed that she is not yet an athlete’s coach, but in future when she retires, she is willing to be a mentor in order to advance athletics sport
code in the country. Stating some of the challenges in athletics, Khatala indicated that climate change in some areas is unbearable more especially when
the weather is windy, saying it hinders them to race properly. Khatala’s sporting achievements are; Retail Capital Langa Marathon Challenge, Cape Town clocked 2:28:06, International Association of
Athletics Federation (IAAF) Silver status, national record holder marathon: 2:28:06, 2017 Cape Town marathon: 9th 2:41:43, 2018 Commonwealth Games (Australia): 13th 2:51:04, 2019 Geneva Marathon (Switzerland): 5th 2:37:49 and
2021 10,000m Kwazulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) Championships, Durban: 1st 33:46:39 and lately recorded position 20 in the 2020 Women Marathon Olympics Games staged in July 2021 Tokyo, Japan clocking 2:33.15.
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