As history would have it, he not only ran a brilliant first leg of the relay finals, but he and teammates Sinesipho Dambile,19, Letlhogonolo Moleyane,18, and Benjamin Richardson, 17, wrote their names in the annals of the history of world athletics.
They clocked an impressive 38.51 seconds, shattering the previous world record set by the US at the Pan American Championships in Costa Rica in 2019.
Dambile hails from Qonce..
Even though it has been more than two months, Xhotyeni says their remarkable feat has not yet sunk in.
“It’s like it happened yesterday,” he told DispatchLIVE.
The youngster was on Friday given a hero’s welcome after returning home from Pretoria, where he is a grade 12 pupil at TuksSport High.
“Being part of a winning team is a great achievement, but being one of world record busters is phenomenal. It is just an extraordinary feat and something that will take some time to really sink in.”
On Friday, King Sabata Dalindyebo municipal bosses and other sporting stakeholders hosted a victory party for the town’s star athlete at Mayfair Hotel.
KSD mayor Nyaniso Nelani said Xhotyeni had not only put the municipality on the world sporting map, but the entire province and the country.
The youngster, however, believes the fact that the spotlight was on Ghana and Jamaica going into the finals had played right into the hands of the SA team.
He said he remembered on the eve of the race his coach telling him to do his best.
Eastern Cape’s world record breaker as surprised as anyone
Image: LULAMILE FENI
When Mthatha-born athlete Mihlali Xhotyeni took to the third lane at the start of the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Kenya as part of the SA 4x100m relay team in August, the thought of breaking the world record had not even crossed his mind.
His immediate focus was on getting a good start and ensuring that the first change-over went smoothly.
At that moment, the only thing that mattered was ensuring that the SA team crossed the finish line first.
After saying a short prayer, the 18-year-old was focused on one thing — bringing home that gold medal.
The roar of the expectant crowd inside Nairobi’s Kasarani International Stadium served as another source of motivation for the young athlete.
Eastern Cape teen headed for World Athletics Championships in Kenya
As history would have it, he not only ran a brilliant first leg of the relay finals, but he and teammates Sinesipho Dambile,19, Letlhogonolo Moleyane,18, and Benjamin Richardson, 17, wrote their names in the annals of the history of world athletics.
They clocked an impressive 38.51 seconds, shattering the previous world record set by the US at the Pan American Championships in Costa Rica in 2019.
Dambile hails from Qonce..
Even though it has been more than two months, Xhotyeni says their remarkable feat has not yet sunk in.
“It’s like it happened yesterday,” he told DispatchLIVE.
The youngster was on Friday given a hero’s welcome after returning home from Pretoria, where he is a grade 12 pupil at TuksSport High.
“Being part of a winning team is a great achievement, but being one of world record busters is phenomenal. It is just an extraordinary feat and something that will take some time to really sink in.”
On Friday, King Sabata Dalindyebo municipal bosses and other sporting stakeholders hosted a victory party for the town’s star athlete at Mayfair Hotel.
KSD mayor Nyaniso Nelani said Xhotyeni had not only put the municipality on the world sporting map, but the entire province and the country.
The youngster, however, believes the fact that the spotlight was on Ghana and Jamaica going into the finals had played right into the hands of the SA team.
He said he remembered on the eve of the race his coach telling him to do his best.
Rousing send-off for rural EC teen who beat the odds to race in Kenya
His mother Neliswa Xhotyeni, a police lieutenant-colonel in Mthatha, had also told her only child to make sure that he prayed before running what was possibly “the race of his life”.
“I was nervous and a little bit afraid, but I was also confident that I had the ability. As a starter, if I messed up the entire team would have flopped. So I just had to compose myself. I remember telling Bolt (Dambile) after handing him the baton to run as fast as he possibly could.. My voice was actually reverberating around the whole stadium.”
His proud mother meanwhile believes the world record is just a reminder of how far her son can go in his career.
Nelani is convinced the area’s “shining star” will help inspire many upcoming athletes, while sports and recreation department director in the OR Tambo district, Sibusiso Madlangazi, wants aspiring athletes to take a leaf out of the teen’s storybook.
And as for Xhotyeni, his next stop is definitely the next Olympic Games.
“Everything has been building towards that. I see myself in there running and winning a gold medal in the next Olympics,” he said.
DispatchLIVE
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