Ndodomzi Jonathan Ntutu (born 4 February 1986) is a visually impaired

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n sprinter. Ndodomzi Jonathan Ntutu is currently South Africa's fastest ever para-athlete. His 10.80 was posted on April 12, 2018, during the heats of the Commonwealth Games. Competing in the T12 classification, Ntutu has competed at three Summer Paralympic Games, winning bronze in the 2012 Games in London. He is also a multiple World Championships winner, taking five medals over four tournaments.

Personal history

Ntutu was born in the township of

Gugulethu Gugulethu is a township in Western Cape, South Africa and is around 20km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of ''igugu lethu'', which is Xhosa for ''our pride / our hope.'' The area was the third township to be established in Cape Town, a ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa in 1986 to Alexander Ntutu and his wife Sylvia. He was born with a congenital complication that left him visually impaired; though he is not blind. He was unable to cope in mainstream education and his parents, who struggled financially, ensured that his needs were catered for by enrolling him in the Athlone School for the Blind. His father died in 1996, when Ntutu was entering his early teen years. He now lives in

Bellville, Western Cape Bellville is a large town in the Western Cape, South Africa, and is part of the Northern Suburbs, Cape Town, Northern Suburbs of Cape Town. Having formerly been an independent city, it was later incorporated into the City of Cape Town, City of ...

Athletics career

Ntutu first showed promise as an athlete whilst at the Athlone school, showing at aptitude for sprinting. He was inspired to compete at the Paralympic Games after a pupil at his school qualified for the South Africa team at the 2000 Games in Sydney. He took on board a local trainer, David Williams, and began training at the Vygieskraal Stadium in Athlone. His efforts were rewarded, when in 2004, he was selected for the South African team at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens. Initially classified as a T13 category athlete, for competitors with limited vision, he entered two events in Athens; the 100 metres sprint (T13) and the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

(F13). He finished sixth overall in the long jump and his time of 11.34 in the heats of the 100m saw him finish two hundredths of a second outside the qualification time for the finals. Two years later he won his first major international medal, taking bronze in 100 metre sprint at the

2006 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Assen, Netherlands from 2–9 September 2006. It was the fourth edition of the international athletics competition for athletes with a disability organised by the International Paralympic Co ...

in Assen. In 2008 Ntutu competed at his second Paralympics, travelling to China to compete in the Beijing Games. He no longer competed in the long jump, but still entered two events, the

100 metre The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and

200 metre The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

sprints. In the 100 metres he surpassed his achievement at the 2004 Games by qualifying through to the finals, where he finished fifth with a time of 11.06 seconds. Although finishing in the top three qualifiers in the heats of the 200 metres, he finished a distant eighth in the finals. In the buildup to the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

in London, Ntutu entered his second World Championships, this time held in Christchurch, New Zealand. He entered all three sprint events, winning silver behind Russia's

Alexey Labzin Alexey Labzin (born 7 December 1978) is a Paralympian athlete from Russia competing mainly in category T13 sprint. He won two gold and three silver medals in 100–400 m events at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Paralympics. Labzin is married and has t ...

in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and narrowly missing the podium with fourth place in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. His biggest breakthrough of his career came at the London 2012 Paralympics, where he qualified for both the

and

sprints, making the finals of both. He finished sixth in the 200 metre race, but in the 100 metres he took the bronze medal, beating Labzin in a photo finish for the third spot. At the

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2013 World Para Athletics Championships, IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 Jul ...

in Lyon, Ntutu came away a double medalist, winning a silver in the

(behind Ireland's Jason Smyth) and a first major medal in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

, a third placed bronze. Two years later Ntutu sight was deemed to have deteriorated and he was reclassified as a T12 classification athlete. This allowed him to enter his first African Games, as traditionally the T13 sprint was not contested. Held in Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, Ntutu entered the

2015 African Games The 11th African Games (), also known as Brazzaville 2015, took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted t ...

competing in the T12 200 metre sprint. He took gold, finishing ahead of countryman and fellow ex-Athlone School pupil Hilton Langenhoven. At the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

in Doha Ntutu took silver in the

but he was disqualified from the

100 metre sprint The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

. The next year he added a second Paralympic medal when he took a silver in the 100 metres at the 2016 Games in Rio. He also competed in the 200 metre race but failed to qualify for the finals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ntutu, Jonathan 1984 births Living people Athletes from Cape Town Xhosa people South African male sprinters South African male long jumpers Paralympic athletes for South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for South Africa Paralympic silver medalists for South Africa Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics African Games gold medalists for South Africa African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 African Games Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Athlone, Cape Town Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Visually impaired sprinters Paralympic sprinters 21st-century South African sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics