Seutloali eyes Cape Town Marathon
NTHAKO MAJORO
MASERU – Lesotho Olympian, Khoarahlane Seutloali, is targeting the Cape Town Marathon and says this time he means business. This year’s Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is scheduled to take place on October 16 in Cape Town, South Africa. Seutloali, 30, who came out on position 67 out of 106 competitors in the men’s marathon at the recent Tokyo Olympic Games, competed at the Cape Town Marathon twice before, in 2017 and in 2019.
The Lesotho marathoner made the fifth position at the 2019 edition of the race, after he had finished on position 35 in 2017. “I think I will run this year’s Cape Town Marathon,” said Seutloali in an interview with Public Eye on Wednesday this week. “This will be my third time running the Cape Town Marathon after competing at the 2017 and 2019 editions.” Seutloali clocked in 2:11,04 at the 2019 edition of the Cape Town Marathon to make his new national record.
“I did not perform well in 2017 but I managed to do well in 2019 and qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games with the time (2:11,04) I made at the same Cape Town Marathon.” Seutloali is looking to break his national personal time (2:11,04) with the upcoming Cape Town Marathon, the same marathon in which he made his current personal time at in 2019. “Of course, I would like to improve my finishing time at the Cape Town Marathon in this year’s edition.”
Seutloali recently competed at the Absa Run Your City 10km in Cape Town, South Africa last month where he came on position 14. The marathoner has a two-year sponsorship worth M200 000 with Storm Mountain Diamonds. The sponsorship, signed in March this year, is meant to cater for Seutloali’s transport, diet, accommodation and injury rehabilitation, among others. Storm Mountain Diamonds owns Kao Mining in Butha-Buthe. Kao Mining sponsored Seutloali and his wife, ’Neheng Khatala, for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games only held last year due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Seutloali and Khatala, both marathoners, were the only Lesotho representative athletes at the Olympics. Khatala managed position 20 out of 88 competitors in women’s marathon at the Tokyo Olympic Games.