Mathews ‘’Loop-en-val’’ Motshwarateu Image source
Synopsis
Athlete
First name
Mathews
Middle name
‘’Loop-en-val’’
Last name
Motshwarateu
Date of birth
02-November-1958
Location of birth
Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa
Date of death
02-November-2001
Location of death
Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa
Gender
Male
Mathews Motshwarateu was born on 2 November 1958 in Soweto. His talent for athletics already became apparent in his primary school years, which he spent at Isaacson Primary. He had a peculiar way of running that made it look like he was about to fall over at any moment. His teachers started calling him “Motshwareng o tlawa”, which is Sotho for “Watch him, he will fall”. Later, sports writer Arrie Joubert would translate the nickname as “Loop-en-Val”, which is the Afrikaans for “Walk-and-Fall”.