Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 60, July 2014

Ma balancing act More than just The most recent edition of Survivor SA possibly changed many a viewer’s perceptions of what a stereotypical gay wedding planner is like. Not only did Zavion Kotze dominate most of the physical challenges, but in the ‘real world’ he has his sights set on competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in the Decathlon, and the Comrades Marathon is also on his long-term bucket list. – BY NICOLE FERREIRA Corne Krige & Zavion during Survivor SA that you are humble in both victory and defeat.” On a deeper personal level, as a gay wedding planner Zavion says he hopes to have broken the stereotype that most people have about gay guys. “Most people think we have ﬂoppy wrists and say ‘Hey, Girl,’ a lot, but I am actually just a dude who also likes to drink beer and do my sport,” says Zavion. MULTI-TALENTED Growing up in KZN, Zavion was quite the allrounder: He played four instruments and sang in 28 ISSUE 60 JULY 2014 / www.modernathlete.co.za the choir Olympics, was elected as a head prefect of the prestigious Kearsney College, and after turning out for the Sharks under-19, under-21 rugby and Sevens sides, he moved over to athletics and became a decathlon star. He won four national student champs titles and the 2009 SA Champs title, then took fourth at the 2012 African Champs. “I like to split myself over a variety of events, as I get bored doing one thing. My mom always used to say, I’m ‘a jack of all trades and a master of none,’ but I want to be a master of all!” says Zavion. Athletics is a fair individual sport – you qualify based on your talent, and that’s what I like about it. “ Winning the 2009 SA Champs Decathlon. The effects of the game took a heavy toll on Zavion’s body and he says it took him six months after the show to get back to his usual level of training. “My body was exhausted and depleted, but I am now back to my usual self.” Despite the difﬁculty of the game, he says that he learnt a lot, especially from former Springbok captain Corne Krige. “Corne is such an incredible human being. He taught me that sometimes you need to be a ‘pitbull,’ but also “ “ Being a contestant in Survivor SA was never on Zavion Kotze’s bucketlist, but when close friend and business partner Khali De Villiers urged him to enter just a day before the auditions, he decided to go for it. “It wasn’t something that I planned, but I got in, and it has seriously changed my view on certain things. I will never look at hungry people in the same way again. I can now see the starvation in someone’s eyes, and it has totally changed the way I look at them,” says Zavion. “There are no off-camera ‘binging sessions’, nor sunblock or pampering behind the scenes – what you see is what you get – and in the last ﬁve days of ﬁlming I had one handful of rice to eat! It was impossible to keep my ﬁtness up on the island. I lost 15kg and it was mind-altering to see myself waste away like that. By the time I was voted out, I was starving and physically exhausted to the point that it was a relief to go home!” That is also what drives him in his current athletic career. Having left rugby because he felt that the politics in the game had become too much for him, he decided to take up track and ﬁeld, as he had always wanted to be an athlete. “Athletics is a fair individual sport – you qualify based on your talent, and that’s what I like about it. And since I like to split myself in many directions, decathlon was the obvious choice for me,” he says. RIO DREAMS Zavion’s ultimate goal in the next two-and-a-half

Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 60, July 2014 | Page 28