Q & A
SIMONÉ’ S STILL HUNGRY FOR MORE
Paralympic discus champion and world record holder Simoné Kruger continued her impressive form by winning both the discus and shot put at the World Para Athletics Women’ s Grand Prix in Olomouc, Czechia recently – a unique all-women event on the international Para athletics calendar. The 21-year-old BSc Sport Science student at Stellenbosch University spoke about the importance of the competition, juggling her studies and training, and what still motivates her after reaching the top of her sport.
Photos courtesy of Andries Kruger
Tell us about the World Para Athletics Women’ s Grand Prix in Olomouc. What was the experience like?
The experience was amazing. It wasn ' t necessarily my best competition because we had some shoulder problems... But the whole experience, even last year, the travelling was amazing, the transport, the food, the hotels, everything about the competition was just amazing.
How important are events like this for women in Para sport?
It ' s really important because I think sometimes the events of the men overshadow the women ' s events. So, I think having an event that ' s just women ' s only in Para sport is such an amazing thing because then you get those really big female athletes that are suddenly the star of the show.
You won both the discus and shot put. How happy were you with your results?
I ' m happy with my distances. It ' s not the distances that we wanted in the competition when we went in, but I became sick two weeks before... and then afterwards, when I started training again, we started getting shoulder problems, which is kind of unfortunate. So, for how my body was at that time, it went well.
People know you as the Paralympic discus champion, but tell us about your success in the shot put?
Shot put is unfortunately not a F38 event, which means that I don ' t do that at world champs or Paralympics, but I ' ve always done shot put, and it ' s always been important for me to do it, and I love it. So, that ' s why I still do it, but it ' s not an event that will get me a medal in Paralympics or World Championships.
How have you found balancing university this year and elite sport?
Sometimes I feel like athletes prioritise studying, and sometimes they prioritise training, which is kind of important. You just have to decide what is more important and just still keep on track with everything. I don ' t think you necessarily find the balance … You just have to prioritise what is important at that time and then still keeping in mind everything else that ' s going on around you.
Kruger with her dad and coach, Andries
Your father is also your coach. How important has that relationship been in your career?
My dad has played a huge role in my career because he ' s the person that knows me better than anyone else. So, he knows me in my good days and my bad days … because when I ' m tired, I ' m emotional, I ' m frustrated, then things just go sideways sometimes. But I think mostly it ' s so positive to have my dad as my coach because he knows me when I have injuries, how to handle them. He knows me when I feel off that day. He knows me when I feel good, and I think that having that close relationship as a coach is such a good thing for me.
What ' s next for you?
I think next for me at the moment is probably world champs that ' s coming up next year. It ' s happening in June, so it ' s in the middle of the year … It ' s going to be a fun one. I ' ve never been to Uzbekistan, which is where it ' s hosted … I really am excited for what ' s going to happen next year, and then the year after that is Paralympics again, so we ' ll see what happens. But also in between, there ' s going to be nationals and trials and everything else, which is also really important.
Having already achieved so much, what ' s still on the to-do list?
At the age of 21, I ' ve achieved the highest that I can, except maybe breaking the world record at a Paralympic Games … So, until I feel like I don ' t love the sport anymore, I ' m going to continue to compete and I think that ' s still going to be a while. I ' m going to continue trying to make better distances, improve my own distances, and then if world records come with it, it does. If I enjoy it, I ' m going to continue doing it.
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