Father of three, attorney and athlete, Moses Naidoo recently returned from the World Masters Indoor Athletics Champs with a shiny gold medal in his hands … and a broad grin on his face!
Proving there is no age limit for achieving your dreams – even the ones you didn’t know you had – 50-year-old Moses not only finished first in the world masters champs’ 400m sprint in Poland in March this year, but he was also recently awarded the title of SA Masters Male Athlete of the Year.
Pitted against not only the world record holder, but also the number one ranked 400m masters sprinter, it seems almost impossible to believe that this Mount Edgecombe dad only began running six months prior to this race.
A few weeks ago, at the SA masters champs in Pretoria, Moses won gold in the 400m, 200m and 100m sprint races.
“It’s been a wonderful, whirlwind journey and I’ve learned so much about myself,” says Moses, who runs his own law firm together with his lawyer wife Chantal.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Moses always excelled in sport at school, but says there was simply never an opportunity for him go further. “I used to watch the Olympics on television and I really believe now that if I had the right opportunities then, I would’ve had the ability to get there. How amazing would that have been,” he says, smiling.
Childhood sweethearts Moses and Chantal have been living in Mount Edgecombe Country Estate for the past 15 years. They have three daughters, aged 24, 21 and 18. Although he remained active in sport after school, playing soccer and cricket into adulthood, life became busy with work and children, and sport took a back seat for a while. “I injured my ankle while playing soccer in 2015 and had to take some time off. I took a year to do rehab, get fitter and lose a bit of weight. It was around then that I remembered how well I had done in long jump at school, so I decided to give it a go again.”
Just a few years later, Moses won gold for long jump at the SA championships. He competed in the world championships in Spain in 2018 and Poland in 2019, finishing in the top 10 on both occasions.
After being awarded his SA colours for long jump in 2021 and competing in the world champs in Finland last year, he was approached by highly respected Durban running coach Victor Vaz, who founded the Fast Feet Track Club.
“I’d never really liked running much. I always thought there was too much pain involved,” laughs Moses. “But Vic saw potential in me and asked me to give him one winter to train me. He said he could turn me into a world-class sprinter.”
And that’s exactly what happened.
“I arrived on the track in August last year and committed to training six days a week, every week, month after month. We went to an athletics meet in January, and that’s when I started paying attention to my times. When we attended another meet in Pretoria in March, I bettered the SA men’s masters 400m record. It was a 40-year-old record.”
When he arrived in Poland in March this year, Moses says he was a quite nervous. Not only did he not have his coach with him, but he had never run on an indoor track in his life.
“I thought I would have time to do a practice run on the track, but when I got there they had set up a massive stage on the track for the opening ceremony. The first time I stepped onto an indoor track was at the start of my race,” he says. “Somehow though, I felt incredibly calm and comfortable. My coach and I had prepared and strategised so well, that I knew exactly what my game plan was.”
When he arrived back in South Africa, Moses says he was overwhelmed by the support he received on social media, but wishes there was more support for athletes in South Africa.
“Masters athletics and athletics in general do not get the recognition and support they deserve. Overseas, even the masters athletes are sponsored. We are such a strong sporting nation but athletics has definitely been neglected. I’m incredibly lucky to be at an age and place in my life where I can afford to fund myself to fulfill this dream, but not everyone can.”
Moses is incredibly grateful to his coach, Vic, who he says is incredibly humble, despite having produced a huge number of world-class athletes in his career. “His training regimes are rigid and hard, but he’s so good at what he does.”
He is also grateful to his three daughters who are supportive and very proud of him and, most importantly he says, his wife Chantal. “She has been the real star of this journey for me. She’s the most amazing person and has sacrificed a lot and given me the time to train to achieve this goal.”
What’s next for Moses?
“We are training for the African World Masters Championships in Cape Town in November and my goal, hopefully, is to one day better the world record. I’ve only been running for such a short time, so who knows what is still to come.”
