Godfrey Khotso Mokoena OIB (born 6 March 1985) is a South African athlete who specializes in the long jump and triple jump.
Early life and family He started his school education at Shalimar Ridge Primary School in Heidelberg, Gauteng. He excelled at gymnastics at a very early age.
He matriculated at Nigel High School, Nigel. His talent at long jump was discovered by Elna de Beer. He started to compete in athletics at the age of 13.
Career Originally competing in the triple jump, winning the World Junior title in 2004 (he also came second in the long jump) and the silver medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he switched to long jump in 2007 after an ankle injury. It was a very successful transition. In 2008, he won the long jump at the world indoor championships and silver at the Olympic games.
In July 2009, he set a new African record in long jump, 8.50m in Madrid in an IAAF Super Grand Prix meeting where he finished second behind Fabrice Lapierre. The previous African record, 8.46, was held by Cheikh Toure of Senegal and set in 1997.IAAF, 5 July 2009: 8.50m African Long Jump record for Mokoena in Madrid – IAAF World Athletics Tour
For the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he switched back to the triple jump, winning the gold medal.
Achievements Representing 2001World Youth ChampionshipsDebrecen, Hungary 5thHigh jump2.10 m2002World Junior ChampionshipsKingston, Jamaica12thLong jump7.08 m (-0.7 m/s)2003All-Africa GamesAbuja, Nigeria 3rdLong jump7.83 m 2ndTriple jump16.28 mAfro-Asian GamesHyderabad, India 3rdLong jump7.76 m 3rdTriple jump15.92 m2004World Junior ChampionshipsGrosseto, Italy 2ndLong jump8.09 m (+0.7 m/s) 1stTriple jump16.77 m (-0.3 m/s)2006World Indoor ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia 5thLong jump8.01 mCommonwealth GamesMelbourne, Australia 4thLong jump8.04 m 2ndTriple jump16.95 mAfrican ChampionshipsBambous, Mauritius 2ndLong jump8.45 m w 2ndTriple jump16.67 m w2007All-Africa GamesAlgiers, Algeria 3rdLong jump7.99 mWorld ChampionshipsOsaka, Japan 5thLong jump8.19 mWorld Athletics FinalStuttgart, Germany 3rdLong jump8.12 m2008World Indoor ChampionshipsValencia, Spain 1stLong jump8.08 mOlympic GamesBeijing, China 2ndLong jump8.24 m2009World Championships Berlin, Germany 2ndLong jump8.47 mWorld Athletics FinalThessaloniki, Greece 3rdLong jump8.17 m2010World Indoor ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar 2ndLong jump8.08 mAfrican ChampionshipsNairobi, Kenya 1stLong jump8.23 m2014Commonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom 1stTriple jump17.20 mAfrican ChampionshipsMarrakesh, Morocco 2ndLong jump8.02 m 1stTriple jump17.03 m2015World ChampionshipsBeijing, China13th (q)Long jump7.98 m9thTriple jump16.81 m2016African ChampionshipsDurban, South Africa3rdTriple jump16.77 mOlympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil21st (q)Triple jump16.51 m2018World Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom14thLong jump7.53 mAfrican ChampionshipsAsaba, Nigeria2ndTriple jump16.83 m
Personal bests Long jump – 8.50 m (2009) Triple jump – 17.35 m (2005) NR High jump – 2.10 m (2001)
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