TRACK & FIELD
Kyle Blignaut
Kyle ‘ Puts ’ Himself on Plane
Another ‘ Tokyo-worthy performance ’ at the USSA Champs came from Kyle Blignaut in the shot put . The ‘ Big Man ’ has been in great form in recent weeks , winning gold at the national championships with a 20.82-metre throw , and following that up with a 21.03 in Potchefstroom . However , even better was to come as he twice improved on his personal best distance at the student champs . With his fourth attempt , he threw 21.14 , thus qualifying for Tokyo , and then heaved a mighty 21.21 with his final throw . The 21-year-old , who won the gold medal at the 2018 World Junior Champs in Finland , is now South Africa ’ s third best shot putter of all time .
Kyle is a self-confessed perfectionist , who does not believe in leaving anything to chance . When he realised that he would be competing earlier than usual in the morning programme , he adapted his training programme to get his body used to performing at a different time . “ Still , I was not feeling at my best while I warmed up . My body was sluggish , so I did a few more warm-up throws to get my muscles going .”
Clearly it worked , as he broke his PB with is fourth throw . “ That got my adrenaline pumping . I have been throwing that sort of distance regularly during training , but to do it in a competition proved to me that I am on the right track with my training ,” says Kyl . “ I was really focused on my last attempt , making sure that I execute my technique to perfection .”
Kyle says his big goal now is to qualify for the Olympic final , and he knows what it will take to do so . “ I have to consistently throw 21-plus metres . That is why I am excited to compete in Europe from next month . The more I compete against some of the best , the further I will throw . I think it will take 21.40 metres to qualify for the final in Tokyo .”
Confidence-booster for Akani
Having already qualified for Tokyo earlier this season , Akani Simbine notched up his fourth 100m career victory in the Diamond League by running 10.08 seconds in Florence on 10 June . Even though he didn ’ t get the best start , he got into his rhythm and reached his topend speed , and then there was no stopping him . He outsprinted England ’ s Ujah Chijindu Ujah by 0.02 seconds .
“ The plan for today was nothing but the win , as this was my first competition since our National Championships six weeks earlier . It meant I was eager to race , and I have taken a lot of confidence from the race , especially since the body feels healthy . I will be in Europe until we go to Tokyo , and there is a good race in the legs waiting to happen ,” he said .
When asked how it felt to be the pre-race favourite , Akani said his answer would have been entirely different if asked the same question a few years back . “ Then I would have been super stressed from putting so much pressure on myself . Now , I take it as motivation … People believe in me , in my talent , so I use it to push myself and become even better .”
Belated Qualifier for Wayde
All it took was one 400m race in Madrid for reigning Olympic 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics , and the chance to defend his title . Having led from the start in the 19 June race , he was caught on the line by Colombian Anthony Jose Zambrano and beaten by five hundredths of a second , showing that there is still work to be done in training , but Wayde ’ s 44.56 for second place was enough to book his ticket for Tokyo , and that is what counted , after the torrid last few years he has been through .
After the highs of winning the gold medals in the 2015 World Champs , 2016 Olympics and 2017 World Champs , with a World Record 43.03 in Rio to sweeten the achievements , Wayde was laid low by a freak knee injury in a charity touch rugby game in late 2017 . After surgery and rehab , Wayde had struggled to regain fitness , and thus far in the 2021 had not raced further than 200m .
Worryingly , he slowed markedly in a recent 200m race in the USA , where he is now based after joining sprint coach Lance Brauman ’ s training group , but says it was just a precaution after he felt tightness in his right hip . Bouncing back straight away from that scare , the 44.56 Wayde posted in Madrid is his fastest time since before he injured his knee in 2017 , and his first sub-45 in four years .
Some of these articles were supplied by The Department of Sport ( TuksSport ) at the University of Pretoria . Tuks is home to some of the best sporting opportunities in the world , with more than 30 sport clubs . To find out more , go to www . up . ac . za / tukssport .
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