The 22-year-old Japanese tennis player racked up $37 million in earnings in the past year, more than any other female athlete in history.



Naomi Osaka was only a year old when Serena Williams won her first grand slam title in 1999. Nineteen years later, Osaka beat Williams at the U.S. Open finals to win her first grand slam. It was one of the most controversial matches in Open history involving three code violations called against Williams. Now the 22-year-old ace has beaten her legendary rival once again, this time for bragging rights as the highest-paid female athlete in the world.



Osaka earned $37.4 million the last 12 months from prize money and endorsements, $1.4 million more than Serena, setting an all-time earnings record for any female athlete in a single year; Maria Sharapova held the prior record with $29.7 million in 2015.



Osaka ranks No. 29 among the 100 highest-paid athletes, while Williams is No. 33. It’s the first time since 2016 that two women have made the ranks of the top 100 highest paid athletes, with the full 2020 list set for release next week.



“To those outside the tennis world, Osaka is a relatively fresh face with a great back story,” says David Carter, a sports business professor at USC Marshall School of Business. “Combine that with being youthful and bicultural, two attributes that help her resonate with younger, global audiences, and the result is the emergence of a global sports marketing icon.”



The ascension puts an end to a decisive winning streak for Williams, who has been the world’s highest-paid female athlete each of the past four years, with annual pre-tax income ranging from $18 million to $29 million. The 23-time grand slam champion has collected almost $300 million during her career from endorsers who have swarmed the 38-year-old star.



Osaka’s rise to the head of the charts was a perfect&nbsp; convergence of several factors. She first proved herself on the court, with back-to-back grand slam titles at the 2018 U.S. Open and 2019 Australian Open. That plus her heritage—a Japanese mother and Haitian-American father—helped separate her from the pack; at only 20 when she won her Open title, she had a cool factor and engaging personality.



Osaka’s roots are crucial to her endorsement stardom. She was born in Japan. When she was three, she and her family moved to the U.S., settling on Long Island and then heading to Florida; older sister, Mari, also plays on the pro circuit.



She turned pro in 2014, a month before her 16th birthday. She cracked the WTA’s top 40 in 2016 and won her first title in March 2018 at Indian Wells. In the 12 months that followed, she became the first Japanese player to win a slam, and first Asian tennis player ever to be ranked No. 1 in the world.



Osaka maintains dual citizenship but made the wise choice to represent Japan ahead of the since-postponed Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. The decision made her an even hotter commodity for Olympic sponsors, like Procter &amp; Gamble, All Nippon Airways and Nissin, who signed endorsement deals with Osaka to use her around marketing for the Games, now scheduled for summer 2021. She is expected to be one of the faces of the Olympics that had triggered<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.olympic.org/news/unprecedented-levels-of-excitement-around-the-olympic-games-tokyo-2020" target="_blank"> unprecedented levels of excitement</a> among the Japanese public before the coronavirus.



A Decade Of Highest-Paid Female Athletes



Tennis has been a winning strategy for highest-paid female athletes. Before Naomi Osaka arrived on the scene, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams were the top earning women of the decade, holding the top spot for five and four years, respectively.



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The last top-earning female athlete, outside of Williams and Sharapova, was Serena’s sister Venus in 2003. Tennis remains the only route for women to rank among the top-paid male sports stars. Sharapova, Li Na, Serena, and now Osaka are the only females to rank among the 100 top earners in sports since 2012. The highest-paid female athlete every year since Forbes started tracking the data in 1990 has been a tennis player, with Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis the top earners most of the 1990s. 



Tennis players are walking billboards in the only major global sport where men and women have some level of equality in their paychecks, thanks to similarly sized audiences tuning in to watch tournaments. Prize money at the four grand slam events has been even since 2007, although men still earn more at lower level tourneys.



The demographics of the tennis fan make sponsoring top players attractive for brands. At the U.S. Open last year, attendance skewed in favor of women by a ratio of 56 to 44, a rarity at big time sporting events; 78% held at least a bachelor’s degree versus 35% for the U.S. overall; the average household income was $216,000. This is a group with significant disposable income, ready to buy apparel, sporting equipment, cars, watches and financial services.



Steering Osaka’s brand is tennis powerhouse agency IMG, which leaned on its history with breakout female tennis stars when Osaka started blowing up, having represented Maria Sharapova and Li. Stuart Duguid is her lead agent at IMG.



The apparel deal is almost always the biggest endorsement for tennis stars, and Osaka’s timing was perfect there as well, as she hit the open market just after winning two grand slams. It triggered a free agency bidding war between Nike and Adidas—her previous apparel sponsor. The Swoosh emerged on top and paid her more than $10 million last year in an agreement that runs through 2025.



Osaka secured an extremely rare but lucrative provision in her Nike contract. The sportswear giant always requires its tennis players to be clad in Nike gear from head to toe, without any other logos on their shirts or hats. This is lucrative real estate for marketers, as cameras focus closely on the player as they serve or get set to return serve.



Nike never made an exemption for Serena, Sharapova, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi or any of the other marketable tennis stars in their stable. The only exception until last year was China’s Li Na; Osaka was the second, thanks to massive leverage with Sharapova headed for retirement and Williams turning 39 this year. Her “patch” deals are with All Nippon Airways, MasterCard and ramen noodle maker Nissin Foods.



Nike plans to launch an Osaka streetwear line in Japan in the fourth quarter, featuring hoodies, leggings and shirts, as well as a new collection each season. There will not be any tennis apparel.



Osaka now has 15 endorsement partners, including global brands like Nissan Motor, Shiseido and Yonex, whose tennis racquets she has used for more than a decade; almost all are worth seven-figures annually.&nbsp;



Sharapova was 17 when she defeated Williams to win the 2004 Wimbledon crown. IMG quickly mobilized to lock up lucrative long-term deals for the Russian, who ranked as the highest-paid female athlete for 11 years before injuries and a suspension for taking a banned substance dented her earnings.



IMG got an education on marketing a female Asian tennis star with China’s Li. She was the first grand slam singles champion from Asia, man or woman, when she captured the 2011 French Open at age 29. IMG quickly secured seven multi-million deals, pushing her off-court earnings from $2 million to $20 million. She challenged Sharapova as the sport’s top earner until her retirement in 2014.



IMG used its expertise in Japan with Kei Nishikori, who has never won a grand slam but is the most successful Japanese male player ever, resulting in an endorsement portfolio worth $30 million a year.



Sharapova, Li and Nishikori paved the way for Osaka’s marketing breakthrough. “We were fortunate to have a very sophisticated office in Tokyo that already had the experience with Kei,” IMG’s head of tennis Max Eisenbud told&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;last year. “The relationships in that region are important.”



With plenty of endorsement cash, Osaka<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/08/23/business-is-booming-for-tennis-ace-naomi-osaka/#b711e54904de"> partnered with several brands</a> last year, with significant equity components, including emerging sports drink BodyArmor and Hyperice, which makes recovery and movement products.



BodyArmor marketing exec Mike Fedele says Osaka was one of inspirations for its “Only You” ad campaign&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/timnewcomb/2020/05/20/naomi-osaka-shares-on-endorsements-bodyarmor-her-struggles-and-cooking/#a06627639a84">launched this week</a>. “Naomi is fiercely dedicated to perfecting her game on the court and a huge part of that is what she does off the court with her training, nutrition and hydration,”he says.



“I’m really interested in seeing a young business grow and adding value to that process,” Osaka told&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;last year. “I tasked my team with finding brands that align with my personality and my interests.”



Brands are lining up to get into the Naomi Osaka business.



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/">Kurt Badenhausen</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sportsmoney">SportsMoney</a>

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Naomi Osaka Is The Highest-Paid Athlete Ever, Topping Serena Williams

When Wayde van Niekerk returned from winning a 400-meter gold medal at the World Championships in Beijing last year, only his mother Odessa was at the airport to welcome him home.
Despite this monumental achievement, he was little known outside of athletics circles. Twelve months on, he is a star on a meteoric rise and will head to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August among South Africa’s leading medal hopefuls.
Van Niekerk already holds a special piece of history as the only person to run under 10 seconds in the 100 meters, sub-20 in the 200 meters and below 44 in the 400 meters, but will focus on just one of those in Rio.
“I’m only looking to compete in the 400-meters, in the future I will look at other events. I want to get myself a solid medal and then take it from there,” Van Niekerk tells FORBES AFRICA.
Despite his impressive times, in reality his chances of medals in the other events would be very slim and he would stand next to no chance of gold competing against the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, in the two shorter distances.
<div id="attachment_4972" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4972" class="size-medium wp-image-4972" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-485252836-300x219.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="219" />BEIJING, CHINA &#8211; AUGUST 26: Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa crosses the finish line to win gold in the Men&#8217;s 400 metres final during day five of the 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships Beijing 2015 at Beijing National Stadium on August 26, 2015 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)</div>
Van Niekerk has already cleared a number of hurdles in his life, including a premature birth that left him fighting for his life, and he believes he can improve those times in the future.
“I believe I still have a lot more in the tank, I’ve just started racing against the best in the world,” he says. “But records are not my goals, I want to win for South Africa.”
“I am excited to show the world that South Africa belongs to be there among the world’s greatest sporting countries.”
Sitting with Van Niekerk, he cuts a determined and focused figure, confident but also humble.
He is, in a way, living the life his mother, now remarried after the deterioration of her relationship with his father, never had due to apartheid. Like her son, she was a talented sprinter competing under the banner of the non-racial South African Council on Sport (SACOS).
Whether she could have made an impact on the international stage is conjecture, but she was denied the chance to try. Van Niekerk says that knowledge drives him to succeed, hinting too that his career has healed a rift between his parents.
“What gives me an extra push is my family, the people who have played a role in getting me to where I am today. Running in my family’s name and representing them is very important to me. More recently having the whole country behind me has been great too.”
“My mom and my dad are super supportive. I appreciate the opportunity we have as a family and I’m grateful that it has brought a sense of togetherness to my family.”
“It’s got my family back together and supporting me, we are not thinking about the past but only the future. This is our moment and I am trying to make each and every one of them proud.”
Tears well in his eyes as he relays the story of his birth, at just 900 grams, and the immediate aftermath that was torture for Odessa.
“Every day she woke up, she wasn’t sure I would be alive. It makes me emotional that my mother had to go through that.”
It’s the reason Van Niekerk donated around $30,000 of his prizemoney from winning the Sportsman of the Year at the 2015 South African Sports Awards last November to the Groote Schuur Hospital’s neonatal unit, where he spent time in an incubator in 1992.
“My contribution is me trying to help others,” he says.
Life may have started out tough for Van Niekerk, but things turned when he attended famed sports school Grey College in Bloemfontein.
“Grey College created the environment for me to succeed. I had to push myself but the school aspires to sporting excellence and I am grateful for the opportunity to have gone there.”
He emerged as a potential 400-meter champion in 2013 when he broke the South African record, and then took silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow a year later. It was not until his gold in Beijing that the world really started to take notice though.
“I’m very confident and comfortable in the position I’m in. I’m excited to see what lies ahead of me,” he says. “I cherish every single medal I have. I’ve got this opportunity to go out there and live out my dreams and achieve as much as I can by doing what I love.”
“When it comes to the Olympics it’s another opportunity for me to tick off another title in my career.”
Van Niekerk, who has the fourth fastest time ever in the 400-meters of 43.48, will compete in Rio against LaShawn Merritt of the United States and Kirani James of Grenada.
James has run the quickest time this year of 44.08, but Van Niekerk is just 0.03 off that time in 2016.
“I doubt any of the top three guys are going to Rio not to win the gold medal, that is certainly my vision and goal for the Olympics,” he says. “I am not thinking about any other medal at the moment, but obviously I need to go there healthy and put in my best performance.”
His chances were boosted by the opportunity to train with Bolt and fellow sprinter, Yohan Blake, in Jamaica in June.
“I feel I can learn a lot from them and can improve myself as an athlete,” he says.
Van Niekerk has also welcomed the decision of the International Olympic Committee to re-test drug samples from previous Olympics to root out those who have used banned substances.
“It’s good to know they are going out there and digging out the guys who have been cheating. It’s not a nice feeling knowing you are giving your all out there and somebody else is cheating.”
The Cape Town-born speedster admits he remembers very little of his races, but whatever happens in Rio, he can have no regrets.
“The race itself is a blank experience, I only remember the end. All stresses disappear right there. It’s about me giving my everything and leaving it all there on the track.”

Fast, Furious and lucky to be alive

Two sailors from two very different worlds. One never expected to set foot on a boat. The other was born on one but thought his yachting dream washed-up. Together they are striving for gold for Africa.
Asenathi Jim grew up in a mud hut in the outskirts of Fort Beaufort, a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. At the age of 10, he thought that was it. By chance, Jim went on holiday to visit his cousins in Simons Town, Cape Town. His cousins were learning to sail and for the first time he set foot on a boat. Forgive us; he took to it like a fish to water.
“It was chance luck that I ended up in a boat in the first place. I was picked up by the right people, I started performing,” says Jim.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4856" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/HopeFloats_Jay-Caboz_470Africa-15-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
In 2011, the 18-year-old protégé Jim teamed up with his coach, and future racing shipmate, Roger Hudson. The South African sailor grew up in the affluent suburb of Newlands, Cape Town, and on the water. His father had also been an Olympic athlete, but as far as Hudson was concerned his career was over.
“I always had my eye on being an Olympic sailor. When I was 13 years old, I was competing in the under-15 nationals and my dad was going to the Olympics&#8230; I had shelved [the dream of competing in the Olympics] and thought it was over. If you don’t find the right teammate, if you don’t find the right kind of campaign, it’s just not going to work in an Olympic sport,” says Hudson.
Together, Jim and Hudson qualified for the London Olympics in 2012. It was the dream start to a partnership that has lasted six years. Now the 38-year-old Hudson and 21-year-old Jim are sharing an even bigger dream.
“Our goal in the last Olympics [London] was to get into the Olympics, and then we made it, especially when Asenathi was so young. It’s unusual for a sailor to be that age and at the Olympic Games… Our goal this time around is to be in the top 10. That’s the medal race, a very ambitious target, because of the 27 teams there, probably 23 of them are thinking the same thing,” says Hudson.
It’s going to be tough.
On a two-man 470-Class yacht there’s nowhere to hide when winds rip your sail to shreds and snap your mast like a twig. This has been the danger at the 470 African Championship. It’s been a tough week for the 11 teams from Angola, Algeria and South Africa, who tested their mettle over 10 races in the trying winds of Granger Bay, in the shadow of Table Mountain, Cape Town. A true test, if ever, to compete for Africa’s spot at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The competition was as fierce as the wind. On day two, Hakim Djoulah and Samir Ksouri, from Algeria, were forced to retire after the wind bent their mast and broke two fingers. The pair were in hospital before their wetsuits had dried, dreams of the Olympics as shattered as their fingers.
On the final day, the sea was as calm as a mill pond. The wind was soft and dolphins and seals swam alongside the catamaran.
It was a tight finish; Hudson and Jim claimed gold, a few points clear of the rest of the pack. The pair fought tooth and nail to represent Africa.
Hudson and Jim returned to shore flanked by the other yachts in a small guard of honor. Hudson’s five-year-old niece, Hailey, and seven-year-old nephew, James, jumped aboard to help the exhausted sailors pull their yacht to shore.
Someone who was not surprised to see the pair win was Nikolaos Drougas, a respected trainer on the international sailing circuit and now the coach of the Angolan team.  Back in 2002, Drougas was sent by the international 470 Class to train coaches and sailors. It was here he met Jim.
“Suddenly we found someone special who had talent. I still remember, in my report to the officials, saying we had a raw diamond in the Class,” says Drougas.
At the time, Drougas recalls Jim was living with his grandfather in a shack in the township of Khayelitsha, 30 kilometers outside of Cape Town.
“It was painful for me, he was living in a tin box of Coca-Cola [signs], fitting four or five people inside. It was so touching, this is what convinced me to pull strings from the 470 International Class to support more sailing,” says Drougas.
Still in their wetsuits and with sea spray crystallizing on their foreheads, Hudson and Jim are every inch the conquering heroes. They jump from the boat and give each other a high-five and a hug. It’s been a long journey. It took Jim many years to explain to his family why he wanted to become a professional sailor.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4855" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/HopeFloats_Jay-Caboz_470Africa-11ed-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
“My mom wasn’t really convinced about me sailing because most black people were suspicious of sending me into the sea or in a boat. It’s just not in our nature to sit in boats or be a swimmer,” says Jim.
“In the Eastern Cape, no one realized what I was after. I would say that no one cared at the time. Now, when they see me, they are more interested&#8230; At the time they vaguely knew what sailing was, but I also didn’t mention it to them a lot&#8230; I am really stoked that my family members now understand. I spent so much time putting it down in detail,” says Jim.
Hudson’s upbringing is a stark contrast to Jim. He grew up in a family that lived on the sea. Hudson wasn’t the only late bloomer in the family, his father, Dave, went to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona at the age of 46.
“It was inspirational him being part of that team and seeing my dad. I wanted that,” says Hudson.
At the age of 19, Hudson tried to make it as a full-time sailor. He ended up doing a business degree and headed off to Europe to look for work. For seven years, he worked with real estate developers building large scale projects in eastern Europe.
“We were building up finance and sales networks for them in London. It was an entrepreneurial activity that went very well, all in the pre-2008 markets.”
Then in 2008, Hudson took a chance to revive his dream. He came home to found RaceAhead, a non-profit organization, with his father. They wanted to identify and train a new generation of Olympic sailors, one of which was Jim.
“When we team up we have a great synergy, and the combination of our different strengths is very powerful&#8230; It’s a bit like saying opposites attract. We come from such different backgrounds, such different worlds, we are not dealing with the same kinds of qualities. We have different styles and we have different views. Sometimes when you put those two together and have good chemistry you are able to do something quite special,” says Hudson.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4857" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/HopeFloats_Jay-Caboz_470Africa-22-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
Their dream doesn’t stop in Rio.
“We are looking towards Tokyo. We have a very clear goal, we want to be the very first Olympic sailing team from South Africa to win a medal. The best ever result was a fifth place in the 1956 Melbourne Games. It takes 10 or 15 years to be a team like that. We are hoping to do that in 10,” says Hudson.
There is much more to come from South African sailors.
“Our three training partners came second, third and fourth [in the 470 African Championship], it’s fair to say that at least one of them can make Tokyo,” says Hudson.
Coaching is not as easy as it looks, says Jim.
“I saw it with me and [Hudson], when he was trying to nurture me. Now I can see how difficult it is to try and nurture youngsters into the ranks. Now I can see how difficult it was for [Hudson] to train me, when I have to teach others.”
“In life you start something, then you achieve something that you want, then there is more. You want to do more, beat a record. There is always something you want to beat, whether it’s time or competitors or to win all the races,” says Jim.
And how do both sailors intend to pay for the bills?
“What secures the funding is when you gain a profile for one reason or another. Then that makes you relevant. Normally you gain a profile from getting results. I think what the media like and the sponsors who have come on board like, is the fact that we are a unique South African team. Two from different races, from different backgrounds and parts of the country – two very different people,” says Hudson.
If you thought that after becoming African champions the pair would take some time off to recover, you’d be wrong. The next day the team were on a plane bound for Miami, United States, to compete in their next race. Their hope riding on a steady mast, comradeship, skills and a true wind.

Hope Floats

In October 2015, Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee Olympian runner sentenced to five years’ jail for the culpable homicide of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013, was released for correctional supervision.
He spent 10 months behind bars, and will now be under house arrest.
The world’s media gathered outside Pistorius’ uncle’s home in Waterkloof, near Pretoria, South Africa, for a glimpse of the athlete, but the family instead sent out spokeswoman and former journalist Anneliese Burgess, who said:  “He is simply entering the next phase of his sentence now. He will serve this under strict conditions that govern correctional supervision.”
Pistorius’ prosecutors have now appealed to the Supreme Court to scale up his sentence from culpable homicide to murder.
Karin van Eck, a lawyer at Clarke &amp; Van Eck Attorneys in Pretoria, says the situation could change.
<div id="attachment_30942" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-30942" class="size-medium wp-image-30942" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/000_Par8117606-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/000_Par8117606-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/000_Par8117606-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/000_Par8117606-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/000_Par8117606-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/000_Par8117606.jpg 1023w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />June Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp&#8217;s mother.</div>
“If the state is successful in their appeal, then that would mean that he’s found guilty of murder and that would influence the sentencing and he doesn’t qualify for correctional supervision,” says van Eck.
The courtroom dramas that sent the athlete to prison in 2014 had been watched by the world. People wondered what was going to happen to him; but what about Reeva?
Thousands expressed outrage over Pistorius being the focal point of the trial, prompting #HerNameWasReevaSteenkamp to trend in defiance.
Reeva’s mother June Steenkamp was the face of the family throughout the trial but broke her silence for her book Reeva: A Mother’s Story, released in 2014.
In addition, June has now launched a foundation to help women and children who are victims of domestic abuse as her way of keeping her daughter’s legacy alive.
In October 2015, dressed in a black jacket, June had addressed students at her daughter’s old school in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, saying: “I will now carry on where she left off”. She read out excerpts of the speech her daughter was going to make to students the day she died.
In the televized address, she also said: “I have got no feelings of revenge. I don’t want to hurt [Pistorius]. He is already a disabled person. I did not want him to be thrown into jail and suffering because I don’t wish suffering on anyone and that’s not going to bring Reeva back.”
Nooshin Erfani-Ghadimi, project manager at Wits Justice Project, a program of the journalism department at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, reckons the wheels of justice turn slowly, and the case is not over, yet.
“What we want to see, in order to have a fair and just system, is the same amount of attention being paid, as has been paid to Oscar’s case, as to the myriad of cases in the system which are the cause of miscarriages of justice for victims, families, the accused and their families too.”
The jury is still out.

ED_0020953

But What About Reeva?

You wouldn’t blink if you saw Anaso Jobodwana on the street. Like many young men, he is well dressed and walks hand-in-hand with his girlfriend, 26-year-old American semi-professional athlete Taylor Monae Evans, and looks slight and hungry.
Make no mistake, this 23-year-old has the world at his fast feet. He smashed the South African 200-meter record, with a time of 19.87 seconds, at the World Championships in Beijing in August. In 2016, he is heading for the Olympics in Rio where he will strain every sinew, yet again, against Usain Bolt.
In Beijing, the great man came to him like a Bolt from the blue as the two limbered up.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4308" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Anaso-168-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
“In the final he said ‘Are you ready to run this 19 seconds?’, and I just said ‘yeah’. And he said ‘don’t be nervous, you’ve got this,’” says Jobodwana.
“Afterwards he came to me and said ‘I had to talk to you throughout the whole call-room because you were nervous so I had to calm your nerves down. Out of all the finalists you were the one, throughout the rounds, who looked the most ready and relaxed and I don’t understand why you were nervous in the final.’”
Jobodwana was starstruck because Bolt was the guy on the cover of his training file, inside were pictures of him in his stride.
Bolt’s 19 seconds prediction was spot on because in the final, Jobodwana ran close.
“After the finals he came up to me and screamed ‘National record, I’m proud of you!’, but obviously with a deeper voice,” chuckles the soft spoken Jobodwana.
The glare and glamour of the track was a million miles from where Jobodwana grew up in Phakamisa, a township on the outskirts of King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was here that Jobodwana developed his passion for running and breaking records. He would only start training professionally, though, in Grade 10 – at the age of 16.
“I hold the under-9 record at Dale Junior so I guess that kicked-started my passion for sprinting,” he says.
In King William’s Town, his mother is a teacher; his father a retired prison officer. Jobodwana says he was fortunate enough to have parents that sent him to schools that nurtured his talent.
“Growing up, the kids in my neighborhood were way faster than me and better sportsmen. I was lucky enough to get sent to schools that had proper sporting facilities and coaches that would enhance my talent,” says Jobodwana.
It was at school that Jobodwana would make his mark, claiming the number one spot in the country in the 200 meters. In the same year, he was 5th in the world in the junior section, after his first full season of training.
Seven years later, the United States-based sprinter shares the track with the likes of Justin Gatlin and Bolt.
Jobodwana says he moved to the States because he wanted to be part of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA).
Jackson State University took a gamble on the sprinter in 2011, offering him a scholarship despite the fact he was recovering from a serious injury. He repaid their faith by qualifying for the 2012 Olympics. Jobodwana says it was thanks to his meticulous coaches.
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“South African coaches are good as well. Look at other athletes who are thriving, like Wayde van Niekerk. He gets coached in South Africa, so the coaches here are awesome,” he says.
Jobodwana was not so blessed when it came to financial support. He hasn’t received any recently from Athletics South Africa. Jobodwana recalls receiving financial assistance in 2012 when he needed to qualify for the Olympics, but nothing since then.
“They (Athletics South Africa) are in a bit of shambles at the moment. I’ve been receiving support from endorsements, Nike Africa has been supportive, but I haven’t received anything from Athletics South Africa recently. Maybe they’ll eventually get it right,” says Jobodwana.
Athletics South Africa was not available for comment.
In the run up to Rio, Jobodwana might spring a few surprises – he plans to run the 100 meters more often to increase his speed.
Award-winning Times Media Group sports journalist, David Isaacson, reckons we can expect a medal from Jobodwana in August.
“I’m sure he can bring back a silver medal in Rio,” says Isaacson.
The athlete has his own ideas about what is needed to groom future South African athletes. Jobodwana says the government needs to put more emphasis on scouting and nurturing athletes in rural areas.
Jobodwana says he spoke to Bolt’s coach in Beijing. He suggested the coach come to Africa for three months to mentor young athletes here. Jobodwana says the coach looked keen.
“We all need to figure out how to put proper structures in place that will bring out the best in the future of our athletics,” says Jobodwana.
And the Jobodwanas of tomorrow? The young athlete left them with a stern message.
“Follow your dreams to the fullest. Your dreams have to be crazy enough for people to think they aren’t achievable, that will be the extra drive you need to make them come alive,” he says.
At Rio 2016, Africa will, once again, be looking to its fastest man and his fleet feet.

A Bolt From The Bush

Enos Mafokate rose from being a stable hand to become his country’s first black showjumper and an Olympic athlete at Barcelona in 1992. These days he runs a riding school in Soweto, Johannesburg, where he teaches young black people to ride tall in the saddle. It is an illuminating story of doggedness that flickered into life during the harsh days of apartheid.
It all started in the 1960s, when a young and curious Mafokate got his first job in Bryanston, a wealthy suburb in northern Johannesburg, as a stable hand for Jaco Fourie, a showjumper with national colors. He learned the ropes and rose to be a groom. He was entrusted with looking after Fourie’s competition horse.
Mafokate taught himself to ride, but the laws of the day said he couldn’t compete with white riders.
“It all started in December 1960 and I was 19 years old, but I was said to be 17 because I didn’t have an identity book. No black person was allowed to ride a horse to compete in any show and when I asked why, I was told I had to be a groom first, meaning you are a ‘boy’ (servant), only then you could ride,” Mafokate recalls.
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In 1992, South Africa, on the cusp of its first democratic elections, was still on the fringes of world sport after many years of being ostracized because of apartheid. Despite this, the country sent what was called a development squad to the Olympic Games in Barcelona. It was not a fully-fledged Olympic team, nor was it expected to march at the opening ceremony.
Nelson Mandela – fresh from prison – was invited to Barcelona; he demanded that the organizers allow the South Africans to march. So Mafokate, in his best riding gear, was at the front of the procession and proud.
In 2007, Mafokate realized his dream of opening his own riding stable in Soweto. At the Soweto Equestrian Foundation, Mafokate trains more than 60 children with 20 horses and ponies. The club also trains both able and disabled children.
“It provides therapy for both mentally and physically unstable children and that is working magic,” says Mafokate.
It has been far from a smooth ride. Mafokate, who sometimes uses his pension to keep the club going, feels the parents could pay more.
“They pay a R100 (around $7) membership fee and don’t pay for anything else like transport or uniform for their children for competitions.”
To make matters worse, one morning in October, as Mafokate was feeding, he was shocked to find his four-year-old pony mutilated and dead.
“This is the year where I think I have gone back to 1988 when I started. I look and think I should be better than I was years ago when I got R700 ($50) from the SPCA to buy my first horse, so 2015 has been a very, very difficult year for the club,” he says.
“The jealous will say it is Enos’ riding school. It’s not; truly speaking it is for the community.”
Through it all, the club has battled on. It was the South African champions twice, Gauteng champions three years in a row and two members from the club represented South Africa at the World Equestrian Games in France in 2014.
It is unlikely that Enos’ son will take over the reins at the riding club. Although they are father and son, they are as different as chalk and cheese.
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His son, Arthur Mafokate is a sharp dressed king of kwaito music, more at home on stage than in the saddle.

Not Horsing Around

The relationship between an athlete and a coach can be complicated. It involves a personal bond but on a professional basis. Everything we’ve been told about mixing business and pleasure goes out the window. It requires responsibility from both sides and takes time to develop. Throughout my sporting career, I have had a close relationship with my coaches but there was a time when I regretted rushing into it.
I moved to Europe from the United States to join a new coach, one who I had only met on a few occasions. I was taken by the advice he offered me during a competition. I was already a successful swimmer and had the medals to show for it, but to remain successful, I needed something to change. So, when presented with his subsequent proposal and promise, I grabbed what I thought was an exciting opportunity.
Two weeks later, I realized I had not done my homework. The situation I had got myself into was not what I had expected. I was an elite athlete with three Olympic Games behind me, seven Olympic medals, multiple world records and my new coach was a junior level club coach with little international experience. I found it difficult to communicate with both him and his ego. Ego can be confused with confidence; it will stunt your growth because you fail to listen to others. This became a detriment to our partnership.
I tried making it work by following his program and quietly focusing on my individual desperation to succeed. It was too late and I started feeling what I had only ever seen others endure. For the first time, a lack of confidence had become my problem. As my confidence continued to cascade, so too did my passion in swimming. I was no longer swimming for the enjoyment of the sport; I was swimming because I thought I had nothing else. Perhaps change was not what I was after. The tipping point came during a competition when my coach’s temper burst into a dramatic fit of tantrums, in front of all the other athletes and coaches. My embarrassment and anger at him, and at myself for letting this happen, gave me the courage I needed to finally make the right decision.
Within a day, I had moved countries and flown back to my coaches in the United States. Now I knew what I wanted and I was anxious to get my confidence back. I had trained under Kim Brackin and David Marsh for a long time and we share a good relationship because they know me as a person, not just an athlete. This is essential for understanding what can affect an athlete outside of sport because of the impact it can have on training.
Their experience also matched the level of training and competition I required. This kind of platform enables us to balance expectations and hold each other accountable to our goals. I was no longer open to change but the necessity for it was confirmed when my coaches provided it for me. It came in the form of a team.
A team is not just a group of individuals with a common purpose. It is a group of passionate individuals with different strengths that help improve the weaknesses in each other to achieve a common goal. The team is made successful by good leadership. A good coach, like a good leader, is always learning, open to ideas and constantly searching for the most effective and efficient methods for improvement. This makes them willing to change, willing to evolve and, if properly communicated with the athlete, evolve together.
To successfully evolve together, the relationship between an athlete and a coach has seven elements: trust, experience, communication, accountability, passion, patience and time. For the magic to work, there is an eighth element that binds it all together – respect. It is vital that these components come from both the coach and the athlete and for that to happen both must earn each other’s respect.
The coach has to take the lead and, as the relationship progresses, a partnership will begin to emerge. A good coach not only prepares you for sport but they prepare you for life. They provide challenges that make for a better athlete and guidance in dealing with those challenges that make for a better person.

Behind Every Great Athlete  Is A Great Coach

Daniel Adongo is not the first athlete from Africa to make it to the highest level of American football; however his dogged determination, relentless grit and unwavering faith could make him the top African athlete the National Football League (NFL).
Weighing more than 120 kilograms and towering at six foot five inches, the linebacker with the Indianapolis Colts has come a long way from Nairobi, where he was born and learned to play a completely different sport, rugby.
The Colts, whose team mantra is build the monster, is quietly building a monster in Adongo. Not surprising as his grandfather, Odiek Chilo, nicknamed him Liech, a Kenyan word for elephant, because he was a big baby.
“From what my mom tells me, I was huge baby and I have been growing ever since!” says Adongo, laughing at his not-so-average stature.
Sport was far from Adongo when he was growing up. Born and raised in a middle-class family in Nairobi, his dad, Joseph was a mid-level executive whose career took the family to London and back to Kenya.
“I had a really great childhood in Nairobi. Even though my parents come from humble beginnings, we were also fortunate enough as a family to be afforded the opportunity to live in Europe,” he says.
He was a typical boy-next-door with an unquenchable curiosity about the world. Even though it never occurred to him that sport would play an enormous role in his life, he says he was very competitive from the age of five.
In London, at the age of six, Adongo insisted on participating in a 15-kilometer charity walk with his parents on a hot summer’s day. Despite objections from his parents and to his father’s amazement, Adongo completed the walk.
“I am happy that I took the opportunity and obligated myself to the discipline and rigor of athletics from a young age.”
It was in primary school that Adongo and his older brother, Leon, discovered their love for sport, particularly rugby.
“I looked up to my older brother and followed him in whatever sports he played. I wanted to emulate everything he did on the field.”
It was former Kenya Rugby Sevens coach, Benjamin Ayimba, who spotted the brothers and their athletic prowess early. At that time, the older Adongo was a student at Makini School and the younger at Strathmore School, both schools in Nairobi.
“People talk about him [Daniel] as a rugby person but he is an all-round sportsman. While at Strathmore School, he was the best at both track and field events. He set a record in high jump and was a greater sprinter. He also played basketball, football and rugby,” says Joseph.
Adongo enjoyed rugby the most and he excelled so much that he was crowned Sportsman of the Year.
His trajectory in sport rose after he joined the junior team at Harlequins, a rugby club in Kenya. It was from there that he was spotted by South African scouts at the 2006 Safari Sevens tournament, playing in the schools category. In 2007, he was scouted by the academy of the Sharks, a rugby team in KwaZulu Natal on South Africa’s east coast.
Within a short space of time, Adongo left Kenya to play professionally in South Africa.
“Before, there was no Kenyan who had been signed to the Sharks Academy with a junior contract at the end of their first year. I achieved that,” he says with pride.
Change was a constant feature in his life and after the 2011 season, Adongo moved north to play for the Blue Bulls in Pretoria. He then decided to play for Counties Manukau in New Zealand in 2012.
“I had established myself in South Africa, but I wanted a change of pace. The decision to move from playing rugby in South Africa to playing in New Zealand was a tough one.”
Adongo took a salary cut, accepting the New Zealand’s minimum 12-week pay of $12,300 including bonuses. Rugby is part of the fabric of New Zealand life. He was willing to sacrifice money for the vital experience.
“The experience in New Zealand was a different style of play. Rugby players in New Zealand employ more skill, tact, power, guile and speed to defeat their opponents. South African players are aggressive and big and they want to hurt you; your manhood is tested when you are playing against South Africans.”
The move to New Zealand paid off; South Africa’s Eastern Province Kings offered Adongo a one-year contract to play for them in Super Rugby. This was a major feat for Adongo; he is the first Kenyan to play professional rugby at the highest level in New Zealand and the first to compete in Super Rugby, the southern hemisphere’s premier club rugby tournament.
“I had to prove to myself that I can excel and excel at the highest level.”
The United States (US) offered him another chance to prove his ability. The Indianapolis Colts showed an interest when Adongo’s manager, Johnny Gbenda-Charles, a former rugby player and Hong-Kong based sports agent, contacted them.
“The Colts were looking for professional athletes from other sporting backgrounds who could transfer their skills to American football,” says Adongo.
The 24-year-old Kenyan had no idea about American football, let alone how to put on cleats, padded armor and helmets.
“Rugby and American football are night and day in terms of technical aspects of the game, even though both sports use extreme levels of physical aggression. American football is much more of a contact sport between the two. It was crazy at first, but I was determined to master the game,” says Adongo, laughing about his early days in the US.
Despite his limited knowledge of the sport, his style of play, which he describes as brutish, aggressive and very physical, but as nimble as a deer, is what probably caught the attention of the Colts’ General Manager, Ryan Grigson, and the coaching team.
Adongo signed a one-year contract and is expected to develop into a vital member of their defensive line-up as an intimidating rush linebacker. This makes him the first black African and first Kenyan to transition from rugby to American football. While the learning curve is steep for Adongo, he continues to push the limits for himself. He made his debut against the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio.
“I practiced in shorts and t-shirts to force myself to adapt to the extreme weather conditions I was going to be playing in.”
That particular December week, there had been severe snow storms and below-zero temperatures in the Midwest. Adongo’s dedication was noticed and he was promoted from the practice squad to the playing roster.
Adongo, who is deeply religious, says sport is a small part of his life. Bigger is his purpose to inspire the imagination of young Africans to dream big and work hard. After all, that is what he did on his way to becoming a professional NFL player, made in Nairobi.

The Kenyan Hercules Stomping  The States

When Pistorius appeared in court on June 4, his case was postponed to August 19 for further investigations. The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court was packed with journalists, who started arriving at 5AM. There was pushing and shoving to gain entry into the court building. Ten seats were reserved for the families of the accused and deceased.
Pistorius and his family were met by a large crowd of media outside the court house. Pistorius was wearing a charcoal gray suit with a blue shirt and tie, as he took his seat in the dock. The Blade Runner, as he is known, turned his back on photographers as he was greeted by his brother Carl, sister Aimee and uncle Arnold, before the proceedings. A clean shaven Pistorius spent the proceedings standing up.
It was a short court appearance, where the state asked the court for the matter to be postponed to August to complete the investigation. The docket is still with police. Pistorius’ legal team, led by Advocate Barry Roux, did not oppose the postponement for the appearance that will fall on the day Steenkamp would have turned 30.
After the appearance, when asked why the date of the postponement fell on Steenkamp’s birthday, Medupe Simasiku of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said: “The date was an agreement between the two parties but we were not aware it was the deceased’s birthday. We are satisfied with the progress of the investigation and everything that has been done. We want to see this case going forward fair and square,” he says.
Simasiku says that they are hoping to have the docket in their possession before August 19. But legal experts say the case will be postponed once again, most likely, as the defense team would not have had enough time to study the docket to prepare their case.
Law expert, Advocate Percy Tshabalala, who is not involved in the case, says that once the investigations are concluded, the matter has to be set down and a trial date agreed on.
“The matter will probably be postponed for a trial date and this will give the defence time to prepare. From there, he [Pistorius] will have to plead and then the case will be under way,” says Tshabalala.
It has been established that the delay is due to outstanding forensic results. Police are still to give a report on the forensic analysis of the toilet door through which Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend. The door is being studied to establish the trajectory of the bullets Pistorius fired, which would indicate where he was standing and whether he was wearing his prosthesis.
After being told the matter was postponed, by acting chief magistrate Daniel Thulare, Pistorius softly replied: “Yes your honor”.
After telling Pistorius of the postponement, Thulare took a swipe at the media. This was brought on by graphic photographs of the crime scene, shown by British satellite news channel SkyNews.
Thulare warned against what he referred to as “scandalous and possibly contemptuous” reporting and trial by the media. The photographs showed the bullet holes and blood-spattered bathroom, where Pistorius shot Steenkamp. Thulare asked the state to investigate how information related to the case had come into the public domain. He says this kind of reporting can hinder judicial processes.
“Anyone who has information that might assist at arriving at decision must approach the NPA. It is important that we rally behind the call. It is important that we invite our colleagues from around the world to respect the republic’s processes,” says Thulare.
Pistorius’ family has also lambasted the publishing of the photographs. In a statement on his website, the family says: “We were shaken by the graphic images, leaked into the public domain this week, of the accident scene at Oscar’s house. It has always been our plea that the legal process be allowed [to] run its course with integrity. The leaking of evidential material into the public domain, before the court case, does not advance this process. We continue to have great faith in the South African legal justice system and believe that Oscar’s account of what happened on that terrible night in February will be borne out by the evidence that the defence team will lead in court”.
Pistorius, who is arguably South Africa’s best-known athlete, enjoys support from all over the world. Messages flood his website.
“I felt deeply saddened by the images that appeared today of Oscar entering the court room and not being left alone. He could hardly get to the building. Oscar, please believe that there are those of us who truly believe in you and I will continue to pray for you. My support will not waiver. Oscar I know that the courts, in the end, will do the right thing. Stay strong Oscar and don’t ever forget that you are a good man with a good heart, who made a terrible mistake. Lots of prayers are coming your way,” wrote one supporter.

The Pain Of The Blade Runner

Pistorius has a net worth off $5 million and is on bail, accused of shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Whatever happens during the trial, it is clear that the life of endorsements and advertising campaigns is over.
He is estimated to have received endorsements worth more than $2 million a year. Amongst them was sportswear giant Nike, British Telecommunications, Thierry Mugler fragrance, Oakley sunglass, and Ossur, an Icelandic firm that makes the prosthetic carbon fiber blades, which he wears during his races.
Johannesburg-based marketing and communications strategist Clive Simpkins believes it won’t all be gloom and doom for the 26-year-old athlete, as it’s believed he is a director of several companies among many, owned by the Pistorius family.
“His sponsorship revenues, although evidently worth a hefty sum of money, were not his sole means of support. Even without them, he’s unlikely to suffer financial deprivation. Regardless of the outcome, he’s now pretty much ‘un-sponsorable’, says Simpkins.
He added that no company could afford to associate themselves with Pistorius, out of fear of their brands being eclipsed by the controversial personality connected with it. As the Blade Runner prepares to prove his innocence, the sponsors have moved away. Nike confirmed to FORBES AFRICA that it has suspended its contract with the athlete, but would not say how much it was worth.
“We believe Oscar Pistorius should be afforded due process and we will continue to monitor the situation closely,” says Seruscka Naidoo, communications manager for Nike South Africa.
The sports apparel giant removed an advert of Pistorius, which showed him setting off from starting blocks alongside the tagline “I am the bullet in the chamber”.
Top sunglass brand Oakley also severed ties with the athlete but again refused to disclose the terms of the contract.
“In light of the recent allegations, Oakley is suspending its contract with Oscar Pistorius, effective immediately. Our hearts are with the families during this difficult time and we’ll continue to follow the developments in this tragic case,” says Cheri Quigley, spokeswoman for Oakley in the States.
Thierry Mugler—Pistorius was the face of its A*Men fragrance in 2011—also withdrew all its campaigns featuring the athlete.
M-Net Movies, a South African pay TV channel, pulled its TV advert campaign and billboards featuring the athlete to promote Hollywood movies, with the run up to the Academy Awards. The advert’s tagline was: “Every night is Oscar night”.
Pistorius was also dropped from the South African leg of the “It Gets Better” global video campaign, where high-profile figures give support to gay teenagers. He was shown in the video saying, “Just remember that you’re special. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to change. Take a deep breath and remember it will get better”.
Assets that the athlete owns include three houses and a vacant plot worth a total of around R8.3 million ($903,300). The house where the shooting took place in a gated security village outside the capital city of Pretoria is worth around R5.6 million ($609,500). The luxury home has been on the market since September 2011. The vacant plot he owns is located in the Western Cape, near Cape Town is worth around $190,000.
In his affidavit Pistorius says that he has an annual income of around R5.6 million and movable assets including household furniture, cars, jewelry worth around $56,000. He also has “cash investments” of around R1 million ($108,800) with various banks in the country.
The athlete is currently on strict bail conditions and was ordered to pay bail of R1 million. In March his lawyers tried to get his bail’s conditions relaxed to no avail. The 26-year-old was ordered to hand over his guns and passport and was forbidden to return to his upscale home, where the shooting took place. He may undergo random, mandatory alcohol and drug tests and also has to report to a police station twice week or be visited by a probation officer. Pistorius will also have to be in regular contact with his probation officials, who will report on his state of mind. He was warned against contacting any potential witnesses in the case against him.
Pistorius was charged with premeditated murder and will appear in court on June 4.
The story caught the eye of rogue trader, Nick Leeson. The man, who at the time aged 25, broke Barings Bank, the Queens bank in Britain. Leeson lost £862 million ($1.3 billion) through unauthorized trading and spent more than four years in a jail in Singapore.
He believes that the truth will come out even though it could take a while.
“The big thing for me is about accountability. You have to accept you did something wrong. And sometimes that’s the most difficult journey. You need to get that degree of accountability, otherwise it’s impossible to move forward. So whatever happened, he has to come to terms with it,” says Leeson.
Sage advice from a former young man to a troubled young man.

Tag: Athlete

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