Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 113, December 2018 | Page 28

South African sprinters have been setting
the world stage alight in recent years,
including Akani Simbine winning African
Champs and Commonwealth Games gold
medals in the 100m earlier this year, but
the younger generation has also been on
fire. That has seen medals at World Youth
and World Junior Champs also coming back
to SA, and now we have another medal to celebrate, thanks
to the performances of Luke Davids at the Youth Olympics
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October. – BY SEAN FALCONER
C
ompeting in the 100m event, the 17-year-old speedster from Belhar
in Cape Town won both his races, clocking 10.56 in the first, then a
wind-assisted 10.15 in the second, for a combined time of 21:11 and the
overall win in the field of nearly 40 competitors. (For the first time, every athletics
event featured two stages, with both results added together to conclude final
standings.) He was even compared to Usain Bolt, not just because he has similar
pre-race and post-race gestures, but also for the way he started slow and then
raced past his opponents.
No surprise that his win saw him catapulted into the public eye, with a press
conference on his return and TV interviews that followed, and his humble, down-
to-earth nature shone through. “It was a really nice, amazing experience going to
Argentina, It was just like Cape Town, but no water restrictions! The food was very
nice, and the people were very friendly, so I really enjoyed myself. Also, we had a
great team environment at the Games. Everyone was trying to stay calm, joking,
very relaxed.”
BRIBED WITH KFC
Funnily enough, Luke took up athletics at the age of seven because he wanted
some fried chicken! “When I was at Parow West Primary, I was playing rugby and
one of the teachers saw that I was quick when running with the ball, so he asked
me to run in the athletics. He told me he would give me Kentucky Fried Chicken if I
ran. I was, like, ‘Whoa!’ because KFC was a lot of chips and big chicken, so I didn’t
think twice. Then the day came and I ran, and I left all the other kids behind. I loved
that feeling, and people cheering for me, and that’s where it began for me. And I
got my chicken!”
After some years continuing to play various sports, Luke decided to get serious
about his sprinting in 2015, signing up with coach Nathan van Wyk. The following
year, he had to make a tough decision: “I was still playing rugby in the athletics
off-season, to pass the time. They would just give me the ball and tell me to run!
But then I made the Western Province Craven Week team, and I had to make a big
decision between rugby and athletics. I didn’t even know people were watching me
play, but I decided to focus on athletics, so turned down the selection.”
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ISSUE 113 DECEMBER 2018 / www.modernathlete.co.za
With his focus solely on sprinting, Luke really began making a name for himself,
making the SA team for the 2017 Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas,
where he finished seventh in the 100m and fifth in the 200m. Then 2018 brought
success after success. He won both the 100m and 200m events at the ASA Youth
Champs in April, with a 10.31 PB in the 100. Later that same month he donned
SA colours again at the Southern Regional Champs in Boksburg, clocking a 20.81
PB as he won the 200m, and finishing second in the 100m. Next up was the All
Africa Youth Games in Algeria in July, where he won the 100m title and took silver
in the 200m, and then he rounded things off with the 100m gold medal at the Youth
Olympics.
ACADEMIC PRIORITIES
Given all this success, it comes as no surprise that Luke is now talking about a
possible future as a pro athlete, but first he is going to make sure he completes
school and then studies further after that. “I’m starting grade 11 in 2019, and after
school I’ve decided I want to go to UWC and study BA Sports Science. I would like
to make a living through the sport, but for
now academics will be the focus, so I won’t
be racing a lot in 2019 – just inter-schools,
inter-provincials, then SA Juniors, and I’ll
take it from there.”
Looking ahead, Luke says he finds great
motivation from watching the senior SA
sprinters regularly clocking sub-10 times in
the 100m and doing well on the world stage.
“I would love to be on top where they are,
and I definitely think I can get to sub-10 if I
stay healthy, have early nights, and watch
myself. That’s why I am chilled about
things now and not looking to race too
much.” For that reason, this well grounded
young man is talking about the 2020 World
Junior Champs as his next big goal, and
hopefully SA will see him back on the
podium, with the SA National Anthem
being played in his honour once again.
TRACK & FIELD