JOBODWANA Anaso

General
OVERCOMING ADVERSITY
He says his strong mentality helped him through various struggles, including a divorce, a loss of form and training without a coach for a period. "I take pressure well for some reason. Even when I was at the [2019] World Championships, my divorce was being finalised, so I think world champs was like the residual effects of it. Nobody knows this but from the [2019 US] nationals to the world championships I didn't have a coach, and I was dealing with the divorce at the same time. I don't think it affected me that much because I've always had the mentality of getting things done no matter what I am going through. From coming fourth at nationals, to qualifying for the semifinals at the world championships was like a sign telling me that I've still got it." (taggedonline.co.za, 01 Oct 2020)

STUDIES, OCCUPATION AND FUTURE PLANS
He has also studied at the University of South Florida, and has worked as a real estate agent in the United States of America. He hopes to pursue a career in the real estate industry in South Africa. "When I signed with Nike in 2013, I started learning more about finances and stumbled into real estate. I've become more invested in it, and it's become a passion of mine, so I took the time out to attend classes that can ensure that when I transition out of athletics I will be more immersed into that industry. I have a 10-year goal of, hopefully, coming back to South Africa to be a real estate developer and one day have some ownership of Jan Smuts Stadium in East London [South Africa] and turn it into an international athletics meet arena." (news24.com, 01 Mar 2015; Instagram profile, 21 Jul 2021; taggedonline.co.za, 01 Oct 2020)