Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 116, March 2019 | Page 41

TRACK & FIELD
Management course, going on to receive her Honours
degree in 2012. She has also been an ambassador for
apparel and shoe company Nike, picking up valuable
working experience from 2014 to 2017 as she cut her
teeth in the marketing department. This experience
will no doubt stand her in good stead after her racing
career finishes.
In the meantime, Alyssa says she can’t help thinking
about the missed years in her career. “I will always
wonder what could have been. I started way too early
and spent way too much time recovering from injuries,
but there is not much I can do about it, so I will throw
my energies into a couple more years of racing and
see what I can achieve. But for me it is important that
other athletes learn from where I went wrong, so when
I was offered the chance to become part of the WABN
Leadership Programme, I threw all my energy into
making the selection. And I did, one of only 25 women
worldwide who were selected.”
comeback in 2012, but was a shadow of her former
self, running only four races and barely able to break
12 seconds in the 100m. The following year brought
hope that she was fully healed and ready to take her
place as South Africa’s premier sprinter, after she
won the national 100m title and finished second in
the 200m. She also lowered her personal best times
to 11.60 and 23.46 respectively, and even competed
on the international circuit. However, the hip flared up
again and she was out for 2014 and 2015.
Finally, in November 2015, she was ready to try again,
and now under the watchful eye of new coach and
former SA 200m Record Holder, Morne Nagel, she did
not disappoint. Seven PB’s – three in the 100m and
four in the 200m – saw her come down to bests of
11.23 and 22.84, and she picked up the silver medal
in the 200m at the Africa Championships in Durban,
as well as a gold medal with the 4x100m relay team.
However, the real icing on the cake was her inclusion
in the team to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. “That
was such a surreal experience. I was overwhelmed by
it all, but that wasn’t the reason why I did not perform
as hoped. I simply did not get my periodisation right,
and that was disappointing. I really was expecting
to get beyond the first rounds in both the 100m and
200m.”
Unfortunately, 2017 brought Alyssa yet another
injury-plagued year, in spite of trying to do things
carefully. “I raced sparingly in the SA season and was
hitting my stride, but I needed to hit the qualification
standards for World Champs, and in pushing for that,
I picked up a hamstring injury. To make matters worse
I developed tendinitis in my left Achilles and was back
in rehab again.”
More Disappointment
Naturally, Alyssa says this latest setback was
incredibly frustrating. “Yes, I got my periodisation
wrong in 2016, but after that things just seemed to
click, and I felt this was the step up I needed to get
to the level where I would be making statements on
the global circuit. Today my Achilles is still not 100%,
probably only 70%, but if I go for another operation,
then I lose another two years. Then I come back and
I’m almost 30. That’s too late. It’s make or break now
for me.”
WABN is the Women Athlete Business Network, and
their goal is to empower female athletes to make
the transition from pro athlete to professional in
the business world. “It is actually surreal, I have to
confess. We are having a workshop in Portland in the
USA in the first week of March, and will do another
workshop in November, this time in Canada. I hope to
be able to use what I learn to help other athletes back
here in South Africa.”
Balanced Outlook
Despite all the setbacks Alyssa has experienced in her
athletics career, she still has healthy, positive outlook
on life. “I have taken all the pressure off myself and
have no expectations, so my running is fun, and I
know that will reap benefits. I believe it is not how you
start in anything you do in life, but how you finish –
but you still have to start.”
“So we are keeping the Achilles strong, and I still do
rehab work over and above my gym work, but the
season is long this year, with the World Champs only
in October in Doha, so I will run CGA Championships,
and a Grand Prix if there is one. Otherwise I will
run SA’s and then go back into a winter training
programme before hitting Europe around June or July,
to hit a qualifying time, but I will only do the 200m this
year, not the 100m/200m double. The early season
races are just to get the racing feel back again, the
real racing will happen in the second half of the year,
and the first goal is to stay healthy. The rest will follow
– I’m convinced of that.” Alyssa says it also really helps having a strong,
motivated training group around her, and you’ll find
Morne’s group training hard at the UJ track three
times a week. “It is a great group. We really love the
training, so expect some great things from us this
year,” says Alyssa. The group includes former SA
100m record holder, Henricho Bruintjies, and Tamzin
Thomas, both of whom Alyssa holds in high esteem.
“HB trains really hard, and I firmly believe that Tamzin
will be the best sprinter ever to come out of South
Africa. Her talent is prodigious, and she work’s really
hard.”
Life Beyond Sport Meanwhile, the next two years will potentially bring
great success and satisfaction for Alyssa as she looks
to qualify for the World Championships this year,
and then for her second Olympics in 2020. If she is
able to stay injury-free, we may yet see something
spectacular from this talented sprinter.
As great as her passion is for the sport, Alyssa is well
aware that an athlete’s lifespan is limited and she is
preparing hard for what comes after her track career.
She started studying in 2008 and enrolled in a Sports
Alyssa’s Track Record
Alyssa has won five SA Titles and represented South Africa on six occasions:
2005: International Schools Meet, Australia – 100m
2007: World Youth Championships, Czech Republic – 100m & 200m
2008: World Junior Championships, Poland – 200m; 4x100m
2009: Africa Junior Championships, Mauritius –100m, 200m & 4x100m
2016: Africa Championships, South Africa – 200m (silver medal) 4x100m (Gold Medal)
2016: Olympic Games, Brazil – 100m & 200m
Alyssa’s PBs
100m – 11.23sec
200m – 22.84sec
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