'I'm gonna go there and perform' - King Ryan eyes World Championships after sub 28 10km

With a 3:32:27 1500m personal best and sub 28 minute 10km personal best, Ryan Mphahlele will go down as one of the most talented middle distance athletes South Africa has ever produced and the most versatile of his generation. The 2019 SA 1500m champion and 2022 African Championships 1500m silver medalist delivered his latest world class performance at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K, where he clocked 27:59 to raise questions about whether it's time for him to swap his track spikes for road running shoes. 

"It was good for me to be able to get the result there and be able to finish," he said reflecting on that run on 13 July. "It became tough from 7km. The guys picked it up but I also knew that I didn't have sufficient fitness to run quicker times like Kabelo Mulaudzi. So I just needed to manage my position well after the pacing and hang on as long as I can. Then when Bennett (Seloyi) caught me we pushed together, and then in the last kilometre I made up so much ground going from ninth place to sixth place."

Mphahlele in action at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K where he started the race as a pacemaker but went on to finish the race in sub 28 minute. Photo Credit: Anthony Grote.

But South Africa's road running mad public will have to keep the champagne on ice because the 27-year-old doesn't see himself as a one trick pony. With a 5km lifetime best of 13:24 and a 3000m best of 7:45, the man who represented South Africa at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships says he will continue competing over multiple events on the track, road and cross country because he doesn’t see himself as a 1500m runner, but simply as a runner.

"I've got unfinished business everywhere from 1500m to the 10km. I think 10km will be the longest distance in my career. I've got so much room for improvement. My approach is to make progression. In fact when you look at it this is the best season in my career in terms of times because I ran PB’s in 1500m and 10km and I haven’t ran other events yet like 5km races. For me the most important thing is to make improvement every year and be consistent in training so that if I get the opportunity to go and run whether it's 10km, 1500m or 5000m or even cross country then we can take the opportunities."

Mphahlele running cross country which he uses as part of his preparation for the track. Photo Credit: Supplied.

The next opportunity then for Thembisa's very first homegrown Olympian will present itself at next month’s World Championships in Japan. The man who is coached by Elvis Khoza was eliminated in the heats at both the 2022 and 2023 World Championships and then failed to reach the semi-finals at last year's Olympic Games in Paris. Where others might be focussed reaching the semi-finals or finals in The Land of The Rising Sun, King Ryan who ran several 10km Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) cross country races ahead of his departure for Tokyo, sees things differently. 

"I've only got the World Championships left for 1500m. I'm definitely going. So even these cross country races have been preparation for that. I take the World Championships as a challenge where I have to go and do my best. I don’t have high expectations. My mindset is not about going and trying to get a medal. It’s just about taking the races as they come and perform to the best of my ability. I’m gonna go there and perform."