Tjoka returns with two athletics podium finishes
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Lesotho Times
Lesotho long-distance runner Mamoroallo Tjoka finished two races in second place in South Africa, including the Kimberley half-marathon in 1:14:44. The results follow the end of her eight-year anti-doping suspension, the Lesotho Times reports.
Lesotho long-distance runner Mamoroallo Tjoka has claimed two podium finishes in South Africa since returning to competition this month, including second place in the 21.1-kilometre Diamonds & Dorings Kimberley Big Hole Marathon, the Lesotho Times reports. She completed the race in 1:14:44, according to the Nedbank Running Club results.
Mamoroallo Tjoka had earlier finished second in the 10-kilometre Fat Cats race, held at Waterfall City Mall of Africa, in 36:37. These results follow the end in October of an eight-year suspension imposed by the South African Institute for a Drug-Free Sport after a missed test in 2018.
Lesotho Athletics Federation president Tšeliso Pheta said he was pleased by her return and urged the Basotho to support her. Tjoka, 42, has won the Soweto Marathon five times and represented Lesotho at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympic Games, where she was the flag bearer, according to the Lesotho Times.
