"I am very happy to win this gold medal... it has always been my dream. My parents will also be very happy," said the soft-spoken Nose after his victory.
Not only was Nose's stamina coupled with speed made him trend here, the lad from Ngcobo, in the Eastern Cape, also surprised many by extraordinarily running with his arms pointing downwards.
"It's my technique, it helps me reserve energy, I only do it when the surface is flat most of the times," he said, when asked why he drops his arms when he's running.
You would expect any teen sensation in this discipline to name the 34-year-old Mokoka or Gelant, who is 32, as one of his role models, but Nose insisted he only looks up to his high school teacher.
New kid Noses ahead of the pack
With the country's leading 10,000m specialists such as Stephen Mokoka and Elroy Gelant already on the wrong side of 30, Cwenga Nose is one of the new kids on the block, showing glimpses of emulating them.
Nose substantiated his potential by putting in a gallant effort to win junior men's 10,000m title at the ongoing Athletic SA (ASA) Youth and Junior Championships at Paarl's Dal Josaphath Stadium in Western Cape yesterday.
The 19-year-old budding Athletics Transkei runner crossed the line in 30:32:62. Nose was initially not in the chasing pack, but only started to show his resilience in the last eight laps, outpacing the race's early leader Carlo Flink of Western Province, who eventually finished second as he crossed the line a minute after Nose.
"I am very happy to win this gold medal... it has always been my dream. My parents will also be very happy," said the soft-spoken Nose after his victory.
Not only was Nose's stamina coupled with speed made him trend here, the lad from Ngcobo, in the Eastern Cape, also surprised many by extraordinarily running with his arms pointing downwards.
"It's my technique, it helps me reserve energy, I only do it when the surface is flat most of the times," he said, when asked why he drops his arms when he's running.
You would expect any teen sensation in this discipline to name the 34-year-old Mokoka or Gelant, who is 32, as one of his role models, but Nose insisted he only looks up to his high school teacher.
"My role model is my teacher, Mr Luphuwane; he also doubles up as my coach," noted Nose, who's doing Grade 10 at Phakamani Senior Secondary School in Ngcobo.
"In the next few years, I see myself running in big races... traveling the world to represent my country SA."