South African Paralympic double gold medalist Ntando Mahlangu, who won gold in the T61 200m and T63 long jump in Tokyo, told ESPN he will not be in Paris for the Games this year as he is still recovering from a broken neck sustained in a car accident.
Mahlangu, who was in high school at the time of his Tokyo golds and is now a student at Loughborough University in England, underwent surgery after the accident in September last year, but was unable to recover in time to make the team for the Paralympics.
Mahlangu, who had a neck vertebra reconstructed, told ESPN: "I broke my C2 bone in my neck. I had to go through a procedure to make sure I could come back and compete and just to have a normal life as a human being.
"I didn't make the team, so I'm not competing at the Paralympics. Because of the injury I haven't been where I want to be. I've been struggling after the accident to come back into form, but I can say by March, April, we were seeing some good results, so steady but surely, it was starting to get there.
"I won't be competing at the Paralympics this year, but definitely, next year, they will be seeing a lot of me."
Apart from the injury sustained in the car accident, Mahlangu said that the process of adapting to his move from South Africa to Loughborough last year also affected his form.
He added: "I think it [the accident] changes a bit of the perspective of how you do things, how you follow up on certain training programmes. We have to adapt - there was a lot of adapting that was happening - but I'm happy to be back and slowly, but surely, we will get there.
"It's about being patient with yourself, taking it from there and building on."
Mahlangu was born with hemimelia, meaning his knees did not fully develop below the knees. In 2012, both of his legs were amputated at the knee and he was subsequently fitted with his first set of blades.
From bullies at school to the monumental shadow of South Africa's now-infamous Paralympic sprint hero Oscar Pistorius, Mahlangu broke out of every box he was thrown into.
In Rio 2016, he won the silver medal at the T42 200m at the age of 14. Five years later in Tokyo, he delivered on his promise of greatness with two gold medals.
Now, Mahlangu comes across as more reserved. It is not that he has lost faith in himself, but rather that life has thrown him new curveballs and as he has aged, he has grown increasingly aware that part of him wants to be remembered for more than only greatness on the track.
Mahlangu remains an ambassador for Jumping Kids - the non-profit organisation that supplied him with his first set of blades and helped him get to the point in life where last year, he finally felt comfortable enough to venture into a new continent and live alone for the first time.
"Changing the game," Mahlangu said when asked what he wanted to be remembered for other than being "Ntando the Great" on the track. He views his business management degree at Loughborough as a gateway to gaining more influence.
He said: "There are certain things that we can develop in the Paralympics and I think there are certain things that we can grow, athlete-wise and also organisation-wise.
"That's why I want to be part of the Paralympics team and make sure that the Paralympics goes a step further once I am done with my studies and once I am done with my athletics career.
"For me to be able to obtain that degree back in Loughborough, I will try my whole best [to ensure] that I [use it to get] involved in the Paralympics and have an impact on the guys that are coming after me."
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