Godfrey Khotso Mokoena (born March 6, 1985 in Heidelberg

Heidelberg, Gauteng

Heidelberg is a town with 70,707 inhabitants in the Gauteng province of South Africa at the foot of the Suikerbosrand next to the N3 highway, which connects Johannesburg and Durban.- History :...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

) is a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n athlete who specializes in the long jump

Long jump

The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...

 and triple jump

Triple jump

The triple jump is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump, but involving a “hop, bound and jump” routine, whereby the competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit.The triple jump has its origins in the Ancient Olympics and has been a...

.

Early Life and Family

He started his school education at Shalimar Ridge Primary School in Heidelberg

Heidelberg, Gauteng

Heidelberg is a town with 70,707 inhabitants in the Gauteng province of South Africa at the foot of the Suikerbosrand next to the N3 highway, which connects Johannesburg and Durban.- History :...

, Gauteng

Gauteng

Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...

. He excelled at gymnastics

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

 at a very early age.

He matriculated atNigel high School, Nigel. His talent at Long Jump was discovered by Elna de Beer.

Career

In 2008 he won 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

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 in an IAAF Super Grand Prix

IAAF Super Grand Prix

The Super Grand Prix was an annual series of athletics meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations .- Meetings :Current meetings for 2009- External links :*...

 meeting where he finished second behind Fabrice Lapierre

Fabrice Lapierre

Fabrice Lapierre is a Mauritian-born Australian long jumper.Lapierre placed 4th at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany, behind another Australian, Mitchell Watt, who took the bronze...

. The previous African record, 8.46, was held by Cheikh Toure

Cheikh Touré

Cheikh Tidiane Touré is a Senegal-born French athlete who specialised in the long jump. He retired after the 2003 season.His best international performance came in the 1997 World Championships, where he finished 7th....

 of Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

 and set in 1997.

Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Event
2001	World Youth Championships 2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the second edition of the World Youth Championships in Athletics. It was held in Debrecen, Hungary from July 12 to July 15, 2001. -Boys:-Girls:-Medals table:...	Debrecen Debrecen Debrecen , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county.- Name :... , Hungary Hungary Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...	5th	High jump
2003	All-Africa Games Athletics at the 2003 All-Africa Games -Track:-Field:-Track:-Field:-Medal table:-External links:*...	Abuja Abuja Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos... , Nigeria Nigeria Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...	3rd	Long jump
			2nd	Triple jump
	Afro-Asian Games Athletics at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games The athletics events at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games were held from October 28 to October 30, 2003 at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium. A total of 42 events were contested at the inaugural edition of the Games.-Men:-Women:-Medal table:Key:...	Hyderabad, India	3rd	Long jump
			3rd	Triple jump
2004	World Junior Championships 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics was the 2004 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Grosseto in Italy.-Men:-Women:-Medals table:-References:*. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-06-06....	Grosseto Grosseto Grosseto is a city and comune in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies 14 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain, on the Ombrone river.... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...	2nd	Long jump
			1st	Triple jump
2006	World Indoor Championships 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena....	Moscow Moscow Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent... , Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...	5th	Long jump
	Commonwealth Games Athletics at the 2006 Commonwealth Games At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the athletics events were held in Melbourne, Australia from 19 March to 25 March 2006. A total of 47 events were contested, of which 24 by male and 23 by female athletes. Furthermore, three men's and three women's disability events were held within the programme...	Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	4th	Long jump
			2nd	Triple jump
	African Championships 2006 African Championships in Athletics The 15th African Championships in Athletics were held in Mauritius between August 9 and August 13, 2006. The event was staged at Stade Germain Comarmond in Bambous, Black River district...	Bambous, Mauritius Mauritius Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...	2nd	Long jump
			2nd	Triple jump
2007	All-Africa Games Athletics at the 2007 All-Africa Games The athletics competition at the 2007 All-Africa Games was held on the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers, Algeria between 18 July and 22 July 2007. Nigeria was the most successful nation of the competition having won nine golds and 24 medals in total. South Africa was a close second with seven golds...	Algiers Algiers ' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000... , Algeria Algeria Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...	3rd	Long jump
	World Championships 2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...	Osaka Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe... , Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	5th	Long jump 2007 World Championships in Athletics - Men's long jump The Men's Long Jump event at the 2007 World Championships took place on August 29, 2007 and August 30, 2007 at the Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan. There were a total number of 34 competing athletes from 25 countries.-Medallists:...
	World Athletics Final 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final The 5th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 22 and September 23, 2007.-Men:- Women :-External links:*...	Stuttgart Stuttgart Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million .... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	3rd	Long jump
2008	World Indoor Championships 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7-9, 2008.-Bid:Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Russia.-Men:...	Valencia, Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	1st	Long jump 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships - Men's Long Jump -Medalists:-Qualification:Qualification rule: qualification standar 7.95m or at least best 8 qualified-Final:...
	Olympic Games Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking...	Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , China	2nd	Long jump Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's long jump -Qualifying round:Qualifying Performance 8.15 or at least 12 best performers advance to the Final.-Final:DNS — Did Not StartNM — No Mark...
2009	World Championships 2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's long jump The men's long jump at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 20 and 22 August. The season had seen a number of athletes performing to a high level before the championships, with reigning World and Olympic champion Irving Saladino. The other athlete to jump...	Berlin, Germany	2nd	Long jump
	World Athletics Final 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final The 7th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12 and September 13, 2009. The competition represented the culmination of the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Tour, a selection of athletics meetings which began on September 20, 2008 at the...	Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace... , Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....	3rd	Long jump
2010	World Indoor Championships 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the ASPIRE Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010.-Bidding and organisation:...	Doha Doha Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar... , Qatar Qatar Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...	2nd	Long jump 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's long jump The men's long jump at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships was held at the ASPIRE Dome on 12 and 13 March.-Medalists:-Records:-Qualification standards:-Schedule:-Qualification:...
	African Championships 2010 African Championships in Athletics The 2010 African Championships in Athletics was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 28 July to 1 August 2010.-Background:The African Championships in Athletics were held in Kenya for the first time...	Nairobi Nairobi Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is... , Kenya Kenya Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...	1st	Long jump

Personal bests

• Long jump – 8.50 m (2009) – national record.
• Triple jump – 17.25 m (2005) – national record.
• 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."