Every athlete dreams about making sports history, but the day it happens, it might not be appreciated; ask the wheelchair tennis player Donald Ramphadi.
Yesterday at the Paris Paralympic Games, he and Lucas Sithole won bronze in the men’s quad-doubles, beating Brazil’s Leandro Pena and Ymanitu Silva. It is the first time African wheelchair players have medaled at the Games.
When asked today how it felt to make sports historythe Tuks-based Ramphadi was initially at a loss for words.
“Yeah, man, this has not yet sunk in,” was his first words during a telephone interview.
“I am excited to be a South African who has given the people something to celebrate. I am surprised by the support we got from people worldwide.”
The South Africans were made to work for their medal. They won the first set 6–2 and lost the second 4–6. They clinched the game in the tiebreaker with a 10–8 score.
According to Ramphadi, they had a plan to go into the first set.
“We knew Leandro Penna tends to freeze up at the start of the game. Making a lot of mistakes. So we took the game to him by constantly hitting the ball to him. Our strategy worked because Penna made mistakes, and Ymanitu Silva got frustrated.
“Things started to go awry in the second set. The plan was to win the first game. We did not. They took the first two games. At one stage we were 3–1 down. We fought back to 4-all. With them leading 5–4, I slipped up, making mistakes. It cost us the set,” explained the Tuks-based player.
“With us tied at one set a piece, I apologised to Lucas for making many mistakes in the second set’s last game. But I told him I would not hang back and be less confident in how I play. I was going to play as I played in the first set. Lucas told me to go for it.”
Ramphadi dedicated the medal to the team that has supported him in the Paris Games build-up.
“I would not have been able to do what I did if it was not for them. This year was a roller coaster ride in which I had some fantastic results, but sometimes, I wondered whether it was worth continuing to do what I do. In the end, it was my support team that made me feel special. I want to thank Aspen, who sponsored a wheelchair for me.
“I want to encourage people to support us as wheelchair tennis players as it is an expensive sport. There is so much raw talent in South Africa who, if supported, can make South Africans feel proud. It is important to me to feel like an elite athlete all the time, not only when competing at the Paralympic Games or a Grand Slam Tournament. Getting the support will boost our confidence.”
This season, Ramphadi has contested the semifinals in the doubles and singles at the Australian and French Open Tournaments. In 2023, he won the doubles at the French Open.
Ramphadi was not always a fan of tennis. Football was his game when he grew up. Most mornings after breakfast, he would kick a ball around. What got his adrenaline pumping was when he got an opportunity to test his skills against rivals.
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But everything changed at the age of 12. Ramphadi still remembers being on his way to school to write exams when he felt a pain in his legs. From then on, things started to deteriorate quite quickly. It got to a stage where he could not walk or feed himself. He was diagnosed with a severe bone disease.