Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 123, October 2019 | Page 54

TRACK & FIELD
“Dominique is a
fighter, and fiercely
competitive”
On Wednesday 2 October at 5:25pm SA time, Dominique Scott-Efurd will
line up in the women’s heats of the 5000m at the 17th edition of the IAAF
World Athletics Championships, in Doha, Qatar. It will be just the third time the
hard-working Scott-Efurd dons the Green and Gold of South Africa, a somewhat
surprising fact, given her talent and work ethic. That said, the fact that she is on
the start line is testament to someone who just does not give up. Because that is
simply not an option for her. – BY MANFRED SEIDLER
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ISSUE 124 OCTOBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
In Grade 1, when Dominique was seven, she told her
mother she was bored… and Mom’s reply was, “If you
are so bored, why don’t you join in?” The response
stunned Dominique. “I was two years younger than
the youngest girls she was coaching, because you
only have under-nines at that stage, and I guess I
always just saw myself as the coach’s daughter.”
A week later Dominique lined up for her first cross
country race. “I guess it was me just wanting to stand
up for myself, so I donned the oversized pink Hershel
Girls T-shirt and Navy Shorts, filled the pockets with
jelly babies, and off I went.” Dominique is quick to
admit that she was way in the back of the field in that
race, eating her jelly babies and taking “little picnics”
along the way.
Competitive Streak
Still, the bug had bitten, and each week she became a
bit more competitive – a family trait. “We were always
a very active and competitive family. My sister, who is
three years younger than me, was also a good athlete,
so she would push me all the time, whether it was
tennis or waterskiing or anything else, so I guess by the
time I started cross country, it was ingrained in me.”
Four years later Dominique lined up at the Western
Province Cross Country Trials, where the top 12
Scott-Efurd
Giving Up
is Not an
Option
D
ominique was introduced to running from a very
early age, as her mother, Renee Scott, was the
cross country coach at Hershel Preparatory
and Senior School in Cape Town. “My first memory of
cross country running, which was my first introduction
to running, was when my mom went on cross country
camps. I was probably five or six years old at that
point. So I would watch the boys and girls running
around this dam in Villiersdorp. Then on Fridays I would
join my mother and watch how the girls’ team would
run cross country races. So I was kind of pulled into
running and cross country by default.”