Godfrey Khotso Mokoena

Sport: Track and Field

Nation: South Africa

DOB: March 6, 1985

Career Highlights: A star in gymnastics growing up, Mokoena got into athletics in high school, initially excelling in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. He finished fifth in the high jump in his first international competition - the 2001 World Youth Championships - but quickly focused on the other two events. It was at the 2004 World Juniors where he really burst onto the scene, winning silver in the long jump and gold in the triple jump. Three silvers followed during a pair of major competitions in 2006, but Mokoena ditched the triple jump for the long jump from there. He won gold at the 2008 World Indoors and silver in the 2008 Beijing Games, becoming the first South African to win an Olympic long jump medal. He took silver in the 2009 Worlds and the 2010 World Indoors, and gold in the 2010 African Championships. Mokoena is considered a front-runner to again medal in London, where this time he'll have his sights set on gold.

Olympic History: 2008