MAHLANGU Ntando

Classification
T61, F61 (IPC, 11 Mar 2021)

Type of Impairment
Limb deficiency (Athlete, 12 Jul 2017)

Origin of Impairment
Congenital (Athlete, 12 Jul 2017)

Impairment Details
He was born with fibular hemimelia, which causes the lower leg to under-develop. As a result he had both legs amputated at the knee in 2012. "I attended a clinic at Steve Biko Academic Hospital [in Pretoria, South Africa]. I was 10 and had never walked before, so when they said there was an option for me to walk and run, I told my family that I wanted the amputation so that could happen." (newframe.com, 06 Nov 2019; timeslive.co.za, 10 Apr 2016; jumpingkids.org.za, 01 Aug 2020; paralympic.org, 27 Aug 2020)

General
DOCUMENTARY
In 2020 he featured in a documentary film about the Paralympic Games called 'Rising Phoenix'. He appeared in the film alongside a cheetah in South Africa. "Filming was done in very small village I had never been to. People keep asking me whether I have a cheetah as a pet, but no, it is not my pet, it was just brought in for shooting. I think this movie will change many people's mindset. More people will now know what the Paralympics is and start supporting it." (Rising Phoenix, 26 Aug 2020; Paralympics Instagram profile, 25 Aug 2020; paralympic.org, 27 Aug 2020)

CLASSIFICATION
In 2018 he changed class from T42 to T61 due to a revision of the International Paralympic Committee [IPC] classification system. "It hasn't affected me as a person, but it has limited the events in which I am able to compete as the 100m was dropped for the 2019 World Championships and 2020 Olympic Games. However, I am hoping that it is the first step to allowing more events for the various amputee classifications. We need more events to compete in to grow the sport and provide more chances to compete. If the [T61] 100m, 400m or 800m were options, I would target those as well. I am hoping these will be included in future Paralympic Games." (newframe.com, 06 Nov 2019)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2017 he became an ambassador for US television channel Cartoon Network's anti-bullying campaign 'Be a Buddy, Not a Bully'. "I have been bullied due to my disability and know how it feels to have people make fun of you. I wanted to be able to tell my story and hopefully have it help people understand that bullying is wrong and everyone deserves to be treated with respect. (newframe.com, 06 Nov 2019; goodthingsguy.com, 05 Jun 2017)