Godfrey Khotso Mokoena

He started his school education at Shalimar Ridge Primary School in Heidelberg, Gauteng. He excelled at gymnastics at a very early age.

He matriculated at Nigel High School, Nigel. His talent at long jump was discovered by Elna de Beer. He started to compete in athletics at the age of 13.

Originally competing in the triple jump, winning the World Junior title in 2004 (he also came second in the long jump) and the silver medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he switched to long jump in 2007 after an ankle injury. It was a very successful transition. In 2008, he won the long jump at the world indoor championships and silver at the Olympic games.

In July 2009, he set a new African record in long jump, 8.50m in Madrid in an IAAF Super Grand Prix meeting where he finished second behind Fabrice Lapierre. The previous African record, 8.46, was held by Cheikh Toure of Senegal and set in 1997.

For the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he switched back to the triple jump, winning the gold medal.

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing   South Africa
2001	World Youth Championships	Debrecen, Hungary	5th	High jump	2.10 m
2002	World Junior Championships	Kingston, Jamaica	12th	Long jump	7.08 m (-0.7 m/s)
2003	All-Africa Games	Abuja, Nigeria	3rd	Long jump	7.83 m
			2nd	Triple jump	16.28 m
	Afro-Asian Games	Hyderabad, India	3rd	Long jump	7.76 m
			3rd	Triple jump	15.92 m
2004	World Junior Championships	Grosseto, Italy	2nd	Long jump	8.09 m (+0.7 m/s)
			1st	Triple jump	16.77 m (-0.3 m/s)
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	5th	Long jump	8.01 m
	Commonwealth Games	Melbourne, Australia	4th	Long jump	8.04 m
			2nd	Triple jump	16.95 m
	African Championships	Bambous, Mauritius	2nd	Long jump	8.45 m w
			2nd	Triple jump	16.67 m w
2007	All-Africa Games	Algiers, Algeria	3rd	Long jump	7.99 m
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	5th	Long jump	8.19 m
	World Athletics Final	Stuttgart, Germany	3rd	Long jump	8.12 m
2008	World Indoor Championships	Valencia, Spain	1st	Long jump	8.08 m
	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	2nd	Long jump	8.24 m
2009	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	2nd	Long jump	8.47 m
	World Athletics Final	Thessaloniki, Greece	3rd	Long jump	8.17 m
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	2nd	Long jump	8.08 m
	African Championships	Nairobi, Kenya	1st	Long jump	8.23 m
2014	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, Scotland	1st	Triple jump	17.20 m
	African Championships	Marrakech, Morocco	2nd	Long jump	8.02 m
			1st	Triple jump	17.03 m
2015	World Championships	Beijing, China	13th (q)	Long jump	7.98 m
			9th	Triple jump	16.81 m
2016	African Championships	Durban, South Africa	3rd	Triple jump	16.77 m
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	21st (q)	Triple jump	16.51 m
2018	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	14th	Long jump	7.53 m
	African Championships	Asaba, Nigeria	2nd	Triple jump	16.83 m

Personal bests

• Long jump – 8.50 m (2009)
• Triple jump – 17.35 m (2005) NR
• High jump – 2.10 m (2001)

Family response

Phakiso Mokoena, father of Godfrey, was quoted in a local newspaper "Godfrey initially found it difficult to qualify for the Olympics, but has through hard work endured and finished second in the world."