Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 100, November 2017 | Page 29

TRACK & FIELD
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Expe
The weight of expectation can sometimes weigh heavily,
they say, especially when you put that expectation on
yourself, as 400m hurdles star Wenda Nel has realised
over the last year. – BY SEAN FALCONER
T
he 31-year-old Pretoria flyer finished a
long 2017 track season in September
feeling the same mixture of satisfaction and
disappointment that she has had since the Olympics
last year in Rio. That feeling was compounded by
her World Champs experience this year, but she says
she will get over it soon – and that bodes well for her
chances at next year’s Commonwealth Games in
Australia.
UPWARD TRAJECTORY
In 2015 Wenda ran a PB 54.37 in Beijing in May,
then returned to the Chinese city in August for
the World Champs and made her first global final,
finishing seventh in 54.94. As a result, big things were
expected of her in 2016 in Rio, especially after she
won the gold medal in the African Champs in Durban
with a 54.86 and had a great international season in
Europe, with a season best of 54.47. However, at the
Olympics she only got as far as the semi-final round,
being eliminated after clocking 55.83.
“I walked away from Rio a bit disappointed. I was so
focused and performance-driven, and really wanted to
make the final, coming out of making the 2015 World
Champs final, but I learnt so much. I think it brought
me back to earth a bit, and made me realise it doesn’t
just happen, that your focus, training, nutrition and
sleeping pattern must all be on par to perform at the
top meets. Therefore, at the beginning of this season I
set specific goals, one of which was to make the final
of the World Champs in London.”
HEARTBREAKINGLY CLOSE
Once again, after a solid European season, including
a season best of 54.58, Wenda went to the World
Champs aiming to make the final, but once again she
faced semi-final elimination. Sadly, her 55.70 was the
tenth-fastest time of the round and thus she only just
missed out on the final as one of the fastest semi-final
losers – and that brought all the disappointment back
again, but also more introspection and growth.
“To be honest, I am a bit disappointed with my 2017
season, because I didn’t make the final in London, but
the more I analyse things, the more I realise it wasn’t
all bad. I was competitive in the Diamond League and
had some great races, but I just wasn’t consistent
enough and struggled to get my timing just right. I
tend to run a season best or a PB just before the big
meets, but then can’t reproduce that at the major
events. That is something I will be working on for the
2018 season… but Rio and London were still amazing
experiences, especially Rio! It’s every at hlete’s dream
just to compete at the Olympics – but my goal had
changed to compete in the final, not just compete,
hence I felt disappointed.”
TALKING TECHNICALITIES
Running the hurdles is an incredibly technical
discipline, and Wenda says she is experimenting
with her stride pattern to find the perfect mix that
will eke out a vital second over 400 metres. “I have
a race plan that I normally stick to, 16 strides to the
first six hurdles, then 17 strides to the end, but I do
experiment and change up the patterns. In my season
best this year, I ran a race pattern I had not done
before, because sometimes things happen in a race
and you have to adapt. Now I am trying something
new in preparation for next season, hoping to make
myself sharper at the hurdles and allow for fewer
strides.”
“I am shorter than many of the other hurdlers, so it’s
not as easy to take longer and less strides between
hurdles, but 15 strides are so much faster than 16,
and my 16, especially later in the season, put me a
little too ‘up’ on the hurdles, which means I need to
brake a bit, then play catch-up. That’s why I want
to change to 15 strides until hurdle three, then 16 to
six, and 17 to the finish. I did that in 2015 and 2016
and it worked for me, but this time I may try it in the
first race of the season instead of the third or fourth.
Basically, I need to go faster to keep up for the first
200 metres, but without wasting energy.”
Looking ahead, Wenda says she is really excited
about the 2018 season, given that the Commonwealth
Games will be in April. “Normally we have SA Champs
in April and we are working to peak then, so preparing
for Australia will actually feel normal to us South
Africans. I will also give the European circuit a go and
will try to do a few Diamond Leagues again, plus we
have African Champs, where I will hopefully qualify
for Team Africa for the Continental Cup in the Czech
Republic in September. So it will be another long
season, but I’m looking forward to it!”
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