Paralympic star Mabote clinches SA's top disability sports honor at 20
Young para-athlete earns top disability sports recognition after setting world record
JOHANNESBURG, 23 August 2026. Puseletso Mabote walked away from the South Africa Sport Awards with the Sportsman of the Year with a Disability award, a recognition built on two Paralympic Games appearances, a world championship title, and a world record set just months ago in Stellenbosch.
The 20-year-old University of Johannesburg student, competing through the UJ Sports for Students with Disabilities Club, set that world record at the SASAPD National Championships this past March: a time of 1:00.74 in the Men’s T63 400m, an event outside his signature sprint disciplines. It was a statement of range, not just speed.
Mabote’s story begins a decade earlier, when a road traffic accident at age ten resulted in the amputation of his right leg. What followed was not withdrawal from sport but a deliberate pursuit of it. The Jumping Kids Prosthetic Fund connected him to para-athletics and supplied the high-performance prosthetics that elite competition demands. Within two years, he was representing South Africa at the IWAS World Games in Portugal.
The progression since that debut has been steep. In the T63 100m, Mabote holds the African record at 12.05 seconds, achieved in Paris, and ranks second globally in the classification. His long jump numbers are equally commanding: a T64 African record of 7.01 meters and a world ranking of fourth. Across two events and multiple disability classifications, he has demonstrated the technical consistency that separates elite para-athletes from the rest of the field.
By contrast, the geographic breadth of his competition schedule tells its own story. Mabote has raced in Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and India, in addition to domestic meets across South Africa. That kind of international calendar is a marker of standing, not ambition. Athletes at his level do not travel to those events; they are invited to them.
The award itself acknowledges a pattern rather than a single moment. Multiple continental records, a world championship medal, a world title, and now a world record in a third event add up to something more durable than a breakthrough season. The Jumping Kids Prosthetic Fund, the University of Johannesburg, and the broader institutional infrastructure around South African para-athletics all have a stake in what his career has become.
At twenty, with two Paralympic Games already behind him, the more consequential question is what the next competitive cycle looks like. His world record in the 400m suggests he has not yet found the ceiling of his range.
Q&A
What world record did Puseletso Mabote set and when?
Mabote set a world record of 1:00.74 in the Men's T63 400m at the SASAPD National Championships in March 2026 in Stellenbosch.
What are Mabote's key competitive achievements across his disability classifications?
In the T63 100m, he holds the African record at 12.05 seconds and ranks second globally. In the T64 long jump, he holds the African record of 7.01 meters and ranks fourth globally.
How did Mabote enter para-athletics after his amputation?
Following a road traffic accident at age ten that resulted in amputation of his right leg, the Jumping Kids Prosthetic Fund connected him to para-athletics and supplied high-performance prosthetics, enabling his debut at the IWAS World Games in Portugal within two years.
What does Mabote's international competition schedule indicate about his standing?
His races across Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and India, combined with domestic South African meets, indicate established elite status; athletes at his level are invited to such events rather than seeking them out.