Johannesburg - Somewhere, on an old roll of film that has not yet been developed, I have a picture of myself holding the 800-metre silver medal Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, who died in a car accident on Friday morning, won at the 2004 Athens Olympics. It was something of a selfie, taken in the wee hours on a hotel roof bar in Athens.
The Emmantina Hotel on Possidonos Avenue in Glyfada, the upmarket suburb on the southern end of Athens, was a home-from-home for South Africans during the 2004 Olympics. Nocsa had booked out the hotel to use as “South Africa House”, a place to host guests, athletes, coaches, administrators and the gabble of hangers-on that South African sport attracts, with the occasional intrusion by journalists.
The rooftop bar became the central meeting point for a group of hacks and coaches after long days of watching, writing and mentoring. Even with the luxury of the traffic-free Olympic lane, Glyfada was a 40-minute bus trip away from the Olympic Stadium, and so many of us would arrive at the bar late, usually just after 11pm, but closer to midnight. Myself and photographer Duif du Toit had regular seats and if we were going to arrive past closing time, Katerina, the barmaid, would put a few beers on ice and charge them to our rooms.
Bob Cervenka, the coach of Jacques Freitag, the 2003 world champion in the high jump, was there. Mulaudzi’s coach, Ian Harries, was also a regular. One of the rules of the group was that you never spoke out of school.
We were there for a few drinks and to blow off the day, not to sneak quotes. If you wanted something for a piece, you asked for it to be on the record or had a private interview. It allowed both sides to relax. It worked well. The coaches never turned down an interview and were usually very candid.
We watched Mulaudzi run in a pre-Games meet in Zurich in that roof-top bar. Mulaudzi was off-form and had a bad race. Harries shrugged and said he had some work to do, and when Mulaudzi arrived in Athens, went about building the young man back up again.
His confidence was shot and he told Hezekiel Sepeng, his roommate, he wanted to leave the Olympic Village and go home. Sepeng, who had won silver at the 1996 Games, told the man he called “Bulldog” that he would be a “coward” if he went home and watched the race on television. He did not go home. He faced up to the challenge. In the final, Mulaudzi was sitting behind Wilson Kipketer of Denmark and Wilfred Bungei of Kenya as they entered the last bend. In the final straight he ran between them. Wilfred faded in the final metres as the Russian, Yuriy Borzakovskiy, powered past them all on the outside. Mulaudzi dipped at the line and took second by 0.04 seconds from Kipketer. Sepeng, who was sixth in the final, will tell you there was no cowardice on that day from his friend.
There was also no fear five years later when he became the world champion in Berlin in 2009. He led from start to finish in one of the greatest 800 metres runs of all time, again coming in to a major event with no real form to speak off. Mulaudzi, the quietest of heroes, never bragged nor made predictions. He simply knew how to run hard through the pain barrier, to kick up a level when it hurt most. The 2010 South African Athletics Annual described his 2009 win thus: “He ran the boldest and most courageous 800m race possibly ever seen at Olympic and World Championship level, leading from start to finish to pull off an improbable victory. One would have to search hard in the annals of Olympic and World Championship history to find a men’s 800m gold medallist who has led from start to finish. Even Alberto Juantorena’s commanding run in the 800m final at the 1976 Montreal Olympics cannot claim this distinction as he was briefly overtaken at the halfway mark.”
The mess Athletics South Africa allowed to develop around Caster Semenya in 2009 meant Mulaudzi’s finest moment, winning the 800m World Championships in Berlin, was lost in the madness of the circus. When the South African team returned home from Berlin, he sat on a stage along with Semenya, his fellow 800m world champion, long jump silver medallist Khotso Mokoena, the now disgraced and deposed ASA president Leonard Chuene, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the opportunistic Julius Malema in a hotel near OR Tambo International. Malema promised to give them all extra money. The financial incentives promised to Mulaudzi by ASA were never forthcoming. He was one of the greatest of South African athletes, but by an ASA administration more concerned with enriching itself than building the sport, he was left to fend for himself.
Mat Quinn, the former 4x100m relay world champion, remembered Mulaudzi from their days as teammates. “He was probably one of the toughest, most mentally focused athletes I have ever met. Off the track he was quiet and reserved, never looking for attention, but the moment he stepped on the track all he wanted to do was win. He retired exactly the way he wanted to, without much attention or focus on him, but he will be remembered as a South African sports legend and one of the greatest track athletes South Africa has ever seen.”
On the night Mulaudzi won in Athens, Harries arrived a little later than the rest of us, looking tired but happy. He took his backpack from his shoulder and reached into it, pulling out the silver medal given to him for safe-keeping by Mulaudzi. We had a group shot with the medal, but Harries refused to be in any picture, saying that was not his way. He did not want to take the limelight away from the athlete. It was a honourable gesture, for Mulaudzi never truly received the praise, reward and recognition his achievements and talent deserved. His passing at the tender age of 34 has brought his greatness into stark relief. We may never see his like again.
The Star