Scarred Mokoka Eager to Shine in Paris

A DNF at Tokyo Olympics Disturbed Star Marathoner but He Wants to Make Amends.

PHOTO CREDIT: ACTION PHOTO

Stephen Mokoka has some psychological scars that need healing if he is to shine at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It is scars from the past Olympics in Tokyo. Scars he has worked hard to remove. But they are stubborn scars that can only fully go away with some help.

“A lot of things went south at the previous Olympics,” Mokaka says of his failure to complete his second marathon at the Games in the punishing heat and humidity of Sapporo three years ago “Now that I am going to the Olympics again, I am sceptical. I am scared. Somehow, it (the DNF – did not finish - experience) is disturbing my mind. I am thinking, what if those things come again? What if something goes wrong?”

If it all sounds like excuses months before he represents Team South Africa at the greatest sporting spectacle, be assured it is not. For the man who is arguably the country’s best marathoner of all time is super ready to make South Africa proud. He has put in incredible work – and continues to do so – into ensuring he is in tip-top condition when he toes the starting line in Paris on August 10.

That he is concerned about his mental state is indicative of just how in top shape he wants to be for an assault at a feat that would further elevate his standing as a legend of the sport in the country.

Back in 2021, Mokoka went to Tokyo confident of doing well. He had trained and was feeling in super form, ready to improve on his 49th place finish from his previous Olympics marathon at the London 2012 Games.

But conditions in Japan were not conducive to a stellar showing and the man who has been national champion in just about every form of running endeavour you can think of – in cross country as well as numerous

distances on track and out on the road – quit the race early.

“It has been years [since the last Olympics] but I am still going through a rough patch of dealing with that [failure]. I remember a conversation I had with my role model Hendrick (Ramaala) and him explaining how he used to struggle to sleep at night asking himself what went wrong [after a failed race]? You find yourself wondering ‘But I have put in so much effort, so much energy, so much work into this one thing – how did it not work’. So, it is not easy to overcome something like that.”

Though he would love to get psychological help but just cannot afford it, Mokoka is pleased that he has some ideas of what it was that went wrong for him at Tokyo 2020. He had gone to the Games that took place a year late (2021) - and without spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic - confident of doing well. After all, two years earlier, he had finished in an impressive fifth position at the World Championships in Doha.

But the Olympics are a different beast, as Mokoka found out.  

“In Tokyo, the conditions in general were not right. For starters, we went to the Olympic Village very early. I could not do my last two long runs as per my programme. When we got there, some athletes were no longer focused because they’d done their races and that was distracting. Some days we went to the stadium for training and found it booked out or the track so packed you just could not train.”

Add to all those aspects that can easily affect an athlete’s focus the weather conditions and you have a recipe for disaster.

PHOTO CREDIT: ACTION PHOTO

“I had trained in the South African winter for a race taking place in hot and humid conditions and that was part of what led to me failing to finish. Things went south for me before the 30km mark and I pressed all I could and pushed, but nothing went right. The marathon is a long journey and there was just nothing coming out of me. That affects you psychologically. It drains you physically. And I remember seeing guys on drips at the finish because the conditions were that brutal.”

He is hoping that Paris will be different. But he has also prepared himself for whatever the race will throw at him.

“As a team, we dealt with certain aspects of that experience. But it is tough because as a sportsperson, some things are expensive. You need money to do them. Mental health is very hard. Even now those things keep coming back to me. I’ve dealt with some but there are still certain parts that I still need to cover so I can go to the Olympics with a clear mind. I need psychological help to get me out of that zone, but it is very expensive. And if I dig into the pocket, it is from the very same place where I have to get money for support during my training. I’ve got to make a choice. And because I’ve signed up to be an athlete, I just have to put my foot forward and keep on working hard and hoping that the work I put in brings me the outcome I desire.”

Mokoka is preparing himself the best way he can and he has long finished with the heavy load of high mileage and even took on the 56km Total Sports Two Oceans Marathon in preparation for the tough, hilly Olympic marathon course.

He has been working on his speed since that race which he quit with about three kilometres to go due to being hungry. And he will be doing his final race locally when he runs the Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K on July 7.

And his hope, and no doubt that of a nation dreaming of a second Olympic Marathon gold to add to the one by Josiah Thugwane from 1996, is that the scars from the previous Games do not negatively impact him in Paris.