Tiisetso Malungane delivered a distance double at the Curro Podium Grand Finale in Tshwane last weekend, winning the boys' 1 500m and 3 000m to close out the two-day meeting with 2 000 ASA points.
The 16-year-old's 1 500m victory in 3:45.35 set a new meeting record and cut eight seconds off his time from the national age group championships at Greenpoint Stadium a year ago.
He returned for the 3 000m and completed the double in 8:21.03, further reinforcing his standing as one of the more serious middle-distance prospects South African athletics has produced in some time.
Like Bayanda Walaza before him, Malungane is a Ruta Sechaba Foundation scholarship recipient, and if this weekend is any indication, the foundation may have found its next standard-bearer.
In the past two months, Malungane has:
Won the boys' 800m at the Hoërskool Menlopark invitation meeting in Pretoria, clocking 1:48.26 – just 0.59 outside the South African Under-18 record of 1:47.67 set by Mandla Nkosi more than 26 years ago.
Broken the South African Under-17 3000m record at the Curro Podium Grand Finale in Tshwane
Set a new meeting record in the 1 500m at Pilditch Stadium, Pretoria
The Ruta Sechaba Foundation is a registered public benefit organisation that identifies academically and athletically gifted young South Africans from economically limited backgrounds, providing access to education and development pathways they would otherwise be unable to reach.
The Foundation previously supported Walaza, who attended Curro Hazeldean before becoming part of South Africa’s 4x100m relay team that secured silver at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
PERSONAL STORY OF RESILIENCE
Catherine Malungane, an accomplished marathon and ultra-marathon runner, began training her son when he was just three years old. A single mother at the time, she balanced hardship with discipline, often training with her son alongside her on the track.
“For me to put food on the table, I had to go and run,” she said. “He grew up under me, where everything was about running. When I went to train, he followed.”
“The field was too big for him, but he would cut across just to reach me, and he was fast. That is when I realised this boy can run.”
Today, she remains his primary coach, overseeing both mileage and mindset.
“Leadership starts at home,” she said. “You teach discipline, integrity and how to stay calm under pressure. Records are important, but character is more important.”
Malungane’s current trajectory places him firmly on the World Athletics development pathway, with long-term ambitions aligned to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The Curro Podium series, which brought together more than 1 500 athletes from eight provinces, is one of the few school-level competitions recognised for official rankings through Athletics South Africa and benchmarked using World Athletics scoring tables.
The Foundation believes the ecosystem around Malungane, maternal mentorship, structured schooling, and institutional backing, provides a sustainable model for elite athlete development in South Africa.
“This is only the foundation,” Catherine said. “Now the real work begins.”
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