Former banker Ludwick Mamabolo will try to boost his gold reserves when he attempts to win his second successive major South African ultra distance event at the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town on Easter Saturday.
Mamabolo still has a dark cloud hovering over his head after he was suspended for almost seven months.
He allegedly used a banned substance when he won the Comrades last year.
The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport announced a few days after Mamabolo became the first South African winner of the Comrades Marathon in seven years that a banned stimulant, methylhexaneamine, was found in his urine.
Mamabolo turned to the courts last month and successfully obtained an interdict that allows him to resume training and competing while his doping disciplinary hearing is completed. He argued that he was relying on running to support his family. The hearing has been dragging on for months with no end in sight.
“I’m aware that the spotlight will be on me on Saturday because of the Comrades but I’m a very strong person mentally and psychologically.
“What happened to me after the Comrades has made me a better person, although I was angry and emotional in the beginning.
“My training in the mountains of Tzaneen in Limpopo went well; I am ready to win the Two Oceans.
“There are many South Africans who have been supporting me when I was suspended, the only way to make them happy is to take this title to Limpopo.”
Mamabolo is excited that defending champion Stephen Muzhingi from Zimbabwe has already arrived in the Mother City, where he is hoping to make it two in a row. “Stephen is a great runner, very strong on the hills but I’m ready for him.” – bdlive
