Manie Blom had his first experience of Paralympic competition, produced his best performance outside of South Africa and then promptly said that the atmosphere inside the Stade de France “shook his bones”.
Despite a best effort of 13.16m in the men’s T12 shot put final at Paris 2024 on Saturday that placed him seventh in the final, he felt that he could have done better. He struggled somewhat to find the push that would get him to 16m which is where the medals were at but nevertheless put on a brave face.
And then he promptly predicted that the Springboks would beat the All Black “by 16 points – at least!” – in their Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park later in the day.
“This was the most unbelievable experience of my life. Look, we work hard for years and hours and hours and then you come to the big stage and well, it didn’t work out as we planned but it was an unbelievable experience. We still managed to go to international PB."
Blom was born with an eye disorder and he initially took up sprinting and competed in the 400m. In 2009 he was hit by a motorbike and his injuries forced him to give up sprinting. He then switched to throwing events.
“I want to say thank you to all my South Africans and my family and the best of all, Jesus. He helped us through so many things. Without his power and his leadership, we will find it hard in life. I had amazing competition and experience, and I’m so proud to be South African.”
Despite his visual impairment, he said that he could “feel” the crowd. “Listen, this is like 10 o’clock on a Saturday morning and it’s jammed-packed. It was so noisy that you can feel the screams in your bones. It is unbelievable. I never experienced anything like this in my whole life.”
Speaking of the stadium and the rugby, Blom had only admiration for the manner in which the Springboks head beaten France in the quarter-finals. “I said after we’d won that match that there was no way we wouldn’t win the World Cup from there. To beat France in this stadium, in front of this kind of crowd – and it would obviously have been on a different level for that rugby match – is unbelieveable. No one would have beaten them after that.”
And no-one did, allowing Blom to celebrate with as much exuberance as all his countrymen and women.
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