Mokoka counts on new sponsor to fuel Olympics

Ahead of this year's Olympics in Paris, elite runner Stephen Mokoka's headache about how his planned Europe training camp will be funded is over after signing a mega deal with Hollywoodbets Athletic Club yesterday.

Mokoka was announced as a marquee signing for the club in Sandton yesterday.

While the length of his contract and his monthly retainer were not revealed, the three-time Olympian would not have come cheap.

"I hope this year's Olympics will be different for me because in the previous one, I prepared in cold conditions. I could not cope with the weather," Mokoka told the media.

"The support I get from them financially is good. We agreed that they're are going to sponsor my overseas camp. I'm grateful for Hollywoodbets. This is one of the reasons that made me join them – financial support.

"We also agreed that they will help me with physio and nutrition.

"Those are the things I was doing with the retainer I was getting from where I used to work... This is a place to be. There will also be some activities that I'm going to do with the club like motivational talks and appearances at certain events. I think it's going to create exposure for me."

Mokoka's preparations for the Olympics started last month when he ran the Hong Kong Marathon and finished second in 2:06:42.

"My coach and I decided to do certain things. We chose Hong Kong Marathon for a specific reason – the rolling hills and the weather conditions in terms of the heat and humidity," he said.

"This year's Olympics is different because we are not going to run a flat route. It has an elevation of 400m, so having a race of rolling hills my coach wanted to see how my recovery is."