Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 116, March 2019 | Page 40

TRACK & FIELD
One Last
Throw of the Dice
to run, so it just felt right to start racing from such
a young age. It was fun, and I beat everybody,” she
says with a chuckle. “But I seemed to do everything
from an early age. I was four when I saw Marion Jones
win the World Championships and that was it for me. I
just wanted to run fast.”
A
t 27 years of age, one of the most talented
sprinters South Africa has produced is acutely
aware that if she is going to stamp her mark
on the global world of sprinting, it has to happen now.
After all, she’s had to get over so many injuries and
stumbling blocks already, which have put a big dent
in her career on the track. “The world’s sprinters are
just getting faster, and I cannot have another setback
if I am going to make a statement in the sport. It just
keeps on getting more and more competitive,” says
the Johannesburg-based athlete.
candid about her career. “I definitely started too early.
Unfortunately, the coaches I first came into contact
with did not have the knowledge to make sure I did
not burn out too early. Basically, I think my body just
said enough after 21 years of competition.”
Early Start
Wait, did she say 21 years of competition? Yes,
that means Alyssa was competing from
the age of five! “I always loved
Far from being down on herself, however,
the multiple SA sprint champion is quite
Alyssa went on to finish sixth at the World Youth
Championships in the 100m in 2007, at aged 15,
clocking 11.83 in the heats. Two years later she
was crowned African Junior Champion in the 200m,
running 25.55 into a headwind. It seemed she was
well on her way to making a big move once she hit
Senior Status. But then the injuries started, most
likely because even before reaching high school, her
prodigious talent was leading to longer and longer
seasons, sometimes stretching from January to
November! “That went on for eight years, and it’s
no wonder that my body eventually started to break
down. All my injuries I have had over the years have
basically been wear and tear, and if I knew then what
I know now, I would have started later. But it is what it
is and I cannot change it,” she says.
Injury Lay-offs
In 2010 she only raced once, running 11.73 in the
100m, before losing the rest of the year to injuries.
After a hip operation in 2011, Alyssa attempted a
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ISSUE 116 MARCH 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Roger
Sprinter Alyssa Conley hopes to have put the worst of her injury problems
behind her, so that she can finally chase after the success on the world athletics
stage that her early career promised. It’s now all about management of her body,
and expectations. – BY MANFRED SEIDLER
Alyssa was so good that at the age of 13 she was
already running with the senior athletes, alongside
names such Heide Seyerling (Quinn), Estie Wittstock
and Wendy Hartman. A year earlier, in 2005, she had
represented South African Schools in Australia and
clocked an astounding 12.05 seconds for the 100m.
“The coaches over there were impressed; me, on the
other hand... I had no idea that I was that fast, but
I was an early bloomer in everything I did. Early to
school, early to run fast times.”