Welcome Back,
Wenda
Wenda on her way to bronze
at the 2018 Commonwealth
Games
Olympic hurdler and multiple SA champion Wenda Nel is back in
training after recovering from COVID-19, and says she is fired up to
qualify for the postponed Olympics in Tokyo next year.
– BY WILHELM DE SWARDT & SEAN FALCONER
Images: Reg Caldecott & Roger Sedres/ImageSA
In the last week of July, 400m hurdler Wenda Nel
returned to the track for the first time in four months,
having recovered from the COVID-19 virus and finally
gotten the go-ahead to train again once sport facilities
were reopened for elite athletes. She says it went
OK, but she still ‘felt’ the long lay-off. “I was lucky in
that I did not experience any of the severe Covid-19
symptoms. I only had a continuous headache.”
“Still, I cannot ignore the fact that I did test positive
and that the virus was in my system. My heart rate is
still higher than it used to be, so I think the best would
be if I take things slightly easy to give my lungs ‘time
to wake up.’ I can afford to do so, as I don’t have any
real plans to race this season,” says the 32-year-old.
Wenda admits that she has felt a bit frustrated at
times during the national lockdown. “In the past,
it was easy to say we are grateful for this or that.
However, it is only when something really gets
stopped or taken away, that you realise what it meant
to you. I now have more appreciation for everything
that goes with being an athlete. I can honestly say I
am more motivated than before.”
Many Successful Years
Having been selected to represent her country for the
first time back in 2005 at the World Youth Champs,
Wenda started her athletic career as a sprinter, and
was still focused on the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay
at the 2006 World Junior Champs. She had shifted
focus to the 100m hurdles by the 2007 African Junior
Champs, then transitioned up to the 400m hurdles.
Having raced this event at the 2009 Universiade, she
won her first senior national title in 2010, as well as
going to the first of five African Champs, to date.
Since then she has gone on to win another seven
national titles in her specialist event, and taken her total
of international meets in SA colours to 18, including the
2016 Olympics, the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth
Games, and three World Champs meets in 2011,
2015 and 2017. Some of her career highlights include
setting a personal best time of 54.37 in 2015 in
Beijing, finishing seventh that same year at the World
Championships (also in Beijing, her first global meet
final), winning a bronze medal at the 2018 Gold Coast
Commonwealth Games in Australia, and collecting
three gold medals at African Champs (two in the 400m
hurdles, one with the 4x400m relay team).
One bittersweet memory remains the 2016 Olympics
in Rio. Big things were expected of Wenda after she
won the gold medal in the African Champs in Durban
that year, and enjoyed a great international season in
Europe, but in Rio she only got as far as the semi-final
round. “I walked away from Rio a bit disappointed,
because I really wanted to make the final. But I think it
brought me back to earth a bit, and made me realise
it doesn’t just happen, that your focus, training,
nutrition and sleeping pattern must all be on par to
perform at the top meets. Rio was still an amazing
experience, because it’s every athlete’s dream just to
compete at the Olympics, but my goal had changed
to competing in the final, not just competing, hence I
felt disappointed.”
No Motivation Lacking
Looking back on her career, Wenda says that it is a
long time to have been active in the sport, including
12 years on the senior circuit, but she has no plans
to put her spikes away. Well, at least not in the next
12 months. “Over the last few months, I have been
asked many times about my plans. I guess people
are trying to find out whether I still plan to race. The
answer is yes. The idea is to compete one more time
at the Olympic Games. Of course, whether next year’s
postponed Tokyo Games will happen remains to be
seen, especially in these uncertain times, but even if
the Games get cancelled, I still plan to race. I still want
to run that near-perfect race. If I do, there is a real
chance that I will achieve one of my last remaining
goals, because I have a specific time in mind.”
No matter what happens in the next 12 months –
whether she goes to another Olympics or not – one thing
is sure, Wenda still has a burning desire to compete on
the track. “From a personal perspective, I am in a good
place. Few athletes can say they have achieved nearly
everything they set out to do, but I am privileged to be
part of a small group of South African athletes to have
competed at an Olympic Games. I have competed in a
World Championships final; won a bronze medal at the
Commonwealth Games, as well as titles at the African
and South African Championships. I am also lucky to
have opportunities outside of athletics.”
Flying again on the
track after months
of lockdown!
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