Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019 | Page 66

TRACK & FIELD
A Few Extra Hurdles
Having overcome yet more injuries this year, hurdler Rikenette Steenkamp is
hoping to finally get her season back on track, and her first race points to great
things to come. – BY WILHELM DE SWARDT & SEAN FALCONER
W
hen it come to injuries, South African
100m-hurdles record holder Rikenette
Steenkamp must be one of the unluckiest
athletes. In December, while she was on holiday
with family, she sustained a freak injury while fooling
around with friends, and initially there was a real
concern that she might not race at all this season.
Then in March, when she was well on her way to a full
recovery, she pulled up abruptly in pain while running
a time trial in training.
These two setbacks followed a near career-ending
problem in previous years. Having won the SA Schools
title in 2009, then recording a hat-trick of titles in 2010
by claiming the SA Schools, Junior and Senior titles in
her Matric year, she went on to claim the gold medal
at the 2014 African Champs in Morocco. However,
Rikenette then saw her career derailed by constant
pain in her foot. After a year of frustration, the problem
was finally identified in late 2015. “I had an extra piece
of bone about 15mm long in my ankle, which impaired
my mobility and therefore caused a lot of pain when
running,” explains Rikenette.
There was no other option than to do surgery,
followed by six weeks’ bed rest, two months’
physiotherapy and two months of swimming, whilst
working with a biokineticist and basically learning to
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Another Setback
When she pulled up in training in Pretoria, coach
Hennie Kriel and physiotherapist Karen Gibbs wisely
decided that Rikenette should not race at all until she
made a complete recovery. This would mean missing
both the USSA Championships as well as the South
African Championships, and Rikenette openly admits
she was far from happy about the enforced rest
period. “I was extremely frustrated by being a mere
spectator during the national championships, but I
also understood why I could not race. It was all about
making sure my bigger goals become a reality.”
And thus after 10 months of no racing, she finally lined
up again to compete on the track at the end of May,
in the women’s 100m hurdles B race at the Stockholm
Diamond League Meeting in Sweden. Eefje Boons of
the Netherlands won the race in a time of 13.12, with
Pedrya Seymour (Bahamas) second in 13.19, followed
by Rikenette in third with a 13.21. This meant that in
spite of her long lay-off, Rikenette was straight back
to clocking times that rank amongst the fastest ever
clocked by South African hurdlers – only five local
women have ever gone faster
than 13.21. And it looks
like just a question of time
before she starts dipping
under 13 seconds again.
ISSUE 119 JUNE 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Unsurprisingly, relief sums up Rikenette’s feelings
about this first result of 2019. “I always tend to be
slightly nervous before my first race of the season, as
you don’t really know what you are capable of, but
now that the proverbial ice has been broken, I am
looking forward to my next race,” she says.
Managing the Problem
On that note, her coach says that they will be taking
things step by step and trying to manage her racing
better this year. “Rikenette has the makings to
become one of the greats of South African athletics,
but then she has got to be managed appropriately.
The reality, however, is that she will never be able to
race as often as most other athletes can. It will always
be important to decide as to where she is going to
race, and the challenge for her would be to make it
count when she does,” he says.
Meanwhile, Rikenette says that looking back on the
last few years and everything she has been through
motivates her for the future. “There were moments after
the operation when I thought I won’t ever run again,
but then to at long last break Corien Botha’s record last
year was amazing, because I had dreamt of doing so
for seven years. What excites me is that it was not the
perfect race – I was coming onto the hurdles so fast
that it led to me losing a bit of rhythm, and I hit the sixth
hurdle, which hadn’t happened in ages – so I know that
I am capable of running faster times.”
walk properly again! But Rikenette was back on the
track by September 2016, and appeared stronger
than ever. After a great 2017 season, she broke
through the 13-second barrier for the first time in early
2018. Then in June 2018 she finally bettered Corien
Botha’s 21-year-old SA Record of 12.94 seconds,
clocking 12.91 in Prague, and followed that up with a
silver medal at the CAA African Senior Championships
in Asaba, Nigeria in August. So, you can imagine her
frustration after picking up more injuries in 2019!