Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 52, November 2013 | Page 12
Feature
Master of All
SA Olympic decathlon star Willem Coertzen
crams in an insane training schedule every
week now that he’s a full-time pro. The
humble athlete from Potchefstroom chats
about what it takes to compete in a multidiscipline event, and his goals to bring home
medals from upcoming meets.
– BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER
raditionally, the title of ‘World’s
Greatest Athlete’ was given to the man who
won the Olympic decathlon event. After
all, the decathlon comprises ten events
over two intense days of competition:
100m, long jump, shot-put, high jump,
400m, 1 500m, 110m hurdles, discus, javelin
and the pole vault. The event works on a
points system, instead of relying on podium
?nishes, so while one athlete may be a fast
sprinter, he still needs to score well in the
other disciplines in order to do well overall
in the competition. “A decathlete is like a
handyman that has to know his way around
everything,” says Olympian and SA record
holder Willem Coertzen. “It’s important to
know the basics instead of technical detail
with speci?c training. Your ?tness needs to
be tops and you have to be patient to ?nd
the balance.”
GIVING IT A GO
Willem says the ?rst time he noticed
decathlon was during the 2004
Olympics in Athens, when he was
studying his teaching Honours at
the University of Potchefstroom. “I
thought I’d have a go and pitched up
at an athletics meet in Bloemfontein.
I found that I took to it, so after my
studies I moved on to Europe for
developed training and I found a coach
in Greg Richards, who has a decathlon
background himself.” That saw Willem
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