TRACK & FIELD
“ I THINK THE KEY FACTOR WAS HAVING FAITH IN MYSELF , MY COACH AND THE PROGRAMME , AND THAT WE WOULD BE READY IN TIME .”
GETTING BACK TO HIS BEST
They say the mark of a champion is what happens when they are knocked down , and in true championship fashion , Lythe stood up and returned to the track . One has to put it all in perspective that he had gone through a lot in just two years , at the tender age of just 17 and 18 . He had dealt with a serious injury at the end of 2019 , then seen the World U20 Championships postponed due to COVID , followed by a year of lockdown and all the uncertainty of 2021 . Then , when competition finally returned , a lot had been thrown at an 18-year-old with virtually no international exposure . Competing at the World Relay Championships and Olympics brought its own pressures , and now Lythe had to overcome COVID as well !
once again running for the SA 4x400m relay team . A seventh place in their heat was unfortunately not good enough to progress , but it was still an incredible experience for Lythe , still just 18 .
Then in late August 2021 , it all seemed to come crashing down , when a tired looking Lythe finished fourth at the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi , Kenya . He won his heat in 46.55 , but the final seemed a bridge too far , and in spite of a good start , he faded in the second half to finish a frustrated fourth in 45.53 , outside of the medals . At the same Champs , he was part of the SA mixed 4x400m relay team that finished fifth in their final . “ It was a huge anti-climax , especially coming off Tokyo , but the expectations from inside and out ended up taking their toll ,” admits Lythe .
His first post-COVID target was the SA U20 Championships in Potchefstroom , and Lythe faced quite a challenge to get himself ready for the meet at the end of March . “ I had to compete if I wanted to be selected for the next World Under-20 Championships , as it was part of the ASA criteria , but honestly , I was just relieved to be able to run at that stage !” he says . Lythe ’ s coach , Lindi Berowsky du Plessis , also knew that he wanted to try put the record straight after his disappointing fourth place in Nairobi , but she also knew that he needed to focus on short-term goals to get back his strength , fitness and confidence , instead of fixating on a single long-term goal . “ She was very , very careful about taking time , because the last thing I wanted was coming back too soon , and damaging my body and my lungs ,” says Lythe .
He duly competed at the SA U20 Champs , won his heat in 46.78 , then took the national title in 46.58 , and he says , “ It took a lot of faith , considering all the setbacks we had to go through , and I was just holding faith that I would be ready in time for the competition , and still be able to perform , and just endure any more challenges that came my way .
With qualification for Cali ensured , Lythe set about building up to the world meet , juggling training with his ongoing studies towards a degree in physiology and biochemistry at the University of Johannesburg . By the time August arrived , he says he felt his top form finally returning . “ I ’ d been hitting some of my fastest times in training , and I wasn ’ t going to make it easy for them to beat me ,” he says . “ Also , I feel like COVID actually benefited me coming into this year ’ s World Champs , especially as I didn ’ t have such expectation around me .”
A STAR IN THE MAKING
The win in Cali really came as no surprise to those who have followed Lythe ’ s career the past few years . In fact , there has been widespread expectation that something big was coming from him since March 2019 , when he crossed the finish line in a PB 46.52 to win the South African U18 Title , aged just 16 . That sparked onlookers to say that here was star in the making , who would someday soon follow in the footsteps of Wayde van Niekerk , South Africa ’ s Olympic and World 400m Champion , as well as World Record-holder .
Lythe followed that a month later with two gold medals at the 2019 Africa Youth Championships in Abidjan , Ivory Coast , in both the individual 400m and in the 4x400m relay , winning the individual race in 46.26 . A foot injury sidelined him later in 2019 , but at the beginning of 2020 , just before COVID hit , Lythe was named in the senior SA 4x400m relay training squad , even though still in rehab , and his future looked bright .
Having missed most of the 2020 season due to the global lockdown , he then had a busy first half
The second reason Lythe showed so much emotion when he won in Cali was due to a serious health scare at the beginning of the year , when he contracted COVID . He fell seriously ill and spent four nights in hospital , and says he can ’ t remember much of the experience . “ I won ’ t lie , it ’ s a bit of a haze . I was on quite strong medication , because my lungs , my throat , my whole body was completely locked up . I could barely walk for the first week and a half after hospital , and was pretty much bedridden ,” he recalls .
Even once released , it took time for him to get going again , and he says he wasn ’ t even sure he would still have a 2022 season . “ I took about three or four weeks off before I started training again , and the first two weeks were just jogging . My coach and I made sure we didn ’ t do things too fast , because I was definitely concerned , but that ’ s where I tried to keep faith in myself , in the process , in the coach , and in my abilities .”
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