SOKWAKHANA ZAZINI( Boys’ 400m Hurdles Gold)
PJ’ s
PIECE
Sokwakhana Zazini introduced himself to world athletics when he set a new World Best for u / 18 400m hurdles in March this year, clocking 48.84 seconds. Since then, he has been simply untouchable. Given South Africa’ s rich history in the single lap hurdles, added to his scintillating World Best, Soks went into the World Champs with high expectations on his shoulders, but none of that seemed to phase him in the slightest.
He cruised home in 49.27 to clinch the World Title, finishing a massive three seconds clear of the next athlete home!“ Yes, I dominated the race, and that was great, but people will be wrong to think it came easy. I’ ve been preparing really hard since last year, and going through the pain barrier was hectic,” he says about his gold medal performance.
Added to his 48.84 World Best, the Eastern Cape-born sprinter also boasts a 46.20 for 400m, making him one of world athletics’ rising stars. He attends the Tuks Sport High School in Pretoria and trains alongside experienced Olympic hurdlers LJ van Zyl and Wenda Nel, so no surprise that the soft-spoken World Champion is already looking ahead to making it on the senior stage:“ My shortterm goal is to win the IAAF World u / 20 Championship title next year, and my long-term goal is to make the SA senior team in 2019, in the hopes of getting experience to take me to the top.”
ZENEY VAN DER WALT( Girls’ 400m Hurdles Gold)
R
unning develops character. The tough, painful parts of it make us stronger runners, and stronger people, in general. So I find it strange that athletics, and running in particular, are such sidelined sports in the current school system.
Individual achievements seem to be frowned upon by the powers that be and a conformist mindset is all the rage at the moment. What little freedom kids used to have for expressing themselves through sheer grit and determination has been taken away from them.
Team pursuits like soccer, rugby and cricket are the top sporting codes in our country, and“ taking one for the team” seems to be the golden mantra. Individuality is not just frowned upon, but also coached out of the kids. Talk is only about a shared vision and a common goal. What candy floss nonsense is this? As Rocky said,“ Life isn’ t all sunshine and rainbows.”
No, friends, we need to teach kids that life is hard, and often unyielding. They need to step forward, take the blows and roll with the punches if they want to achieve something. Nobody should think that life is going to be easy, because quite frankly, it isn’ t.
Ahead of the girls’ 400m hurdles final, many pundits were sure that the pre-race favourite, Jamaica’ s Sanique Walker, would take the title, but that just took all the pressure off Zeney, the Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool grade 11 scholar from Pretoria.“ I was just focused on the plans coach Maritza Coetzee and I had made, and I knew I have a strong finish, so I remained 100 % focused. I knew this would be the last race of an amazing season, and I knew I was 100 % prepared,” she says.
Entering the home straight, Sanique had a five-metre gap over second-placed Zeney, but the South African says,“ At the 300m mark, I saw I was second and that’ s when I gave my best and ran my heart out.” When the Jamaican hit the last hurdle and stumbled, the South African was perfectly placed to grab the win in 58.24, out-dipping the Jamaican by a mere three-hundredths of a second for one of the biggest upsets of the championships.“ After the race we had to wait to see the photo finish and as it turned out, it was gold for South Africa!” says an elated Zeney.
Images: iStock & PJ Moses
We do our kids a disservice by not letting them pursue individual goals. Kids need to learn that they are strong enough to do amazing things on their own. They are tough enough to take all that is thrown their way and come out swinging in the next round. And running teaches you to dig deep. To keep moving forward when you don’ t want to, and to finish what you start, no matter how long it takes. First or last place doesn’ t matter, being brave and going the distance does.
Let your kids fall. Let them fail. Be there to cheer them back to their feet. Be there to motivate them to try again. You will raise a better human. You will build a legacy of hope and faith within them that they can carry forward into adulthood. Let them find themselves through lungs gasping for air and muscles burning from the strain. Let them find the joy of living. Leave a legacy by letting them run.
About the Author:
PJ is a former Cape Flats gangster who took up running when he turned his back on that dangerous lifestyle, in order to set a better example for his two young sons, instead of becoming just another crime statistic.
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