JUST THE
START
Pieter Conradie has developed into one of South Africa’ s fastest 400m runners, alongside the likes of Wayde van Niekerk and LJ van Zyl, and he is already an IAAF World Youth and Junior Championships semi-finalist, boasts a World Student Championships relay medal, and he is the current South African 400m champion. But the best is yet to come from this young sprinter. In spite of only being 23 years old, he has a strong mind and very good support structure on his side, and this has already seen him run 45-second times consistently and win an overseas race in his first European season, but his sights are firmly set on further improvement, an future international success.
Like many boys at Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in Pretoria, Pieter had ambitions of becoming a top rugby player. He also played cricket, and enjoyed a game of golf, and thus, despite having started running at the age of six, running itself was not a priority.“ I really enjoyed playing rugby at school and I wanted to make it‘ my’ sport, but at a top 10 athletics meet in grade 10, my older brother Chris told me about the World Youth Champs and I decided to go for it. I have never looked back,” he says.
After being introduced to top athletics coach Nico van Heerden, Pieter’ s athletic talent soon blossomed, as did his passion for athletics.“ Coach Nico played a big role in my love for the sport because his level of professionalism rubbed off on me, and since then I have just loved the sport.”
Just a year later, Pieter won the South African Youth Championships 400m gold medal, clocking 46.88 seconds, which saw him being selected to represent South Africa at the World Youth Championships, where he managed to make the semi-finals in the 400m. That same year he was part of the SA relay team that took the 4x100m gold medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games, clocking 41.00, a new South African Youth record. In 2012, he was included in the national junior team for the World Junior Championships in Barcelona where he also managed to make the semi-finals.
BACK ON HOME SOIL
After a two-year stint at the University of Texas in the USA, Pieter came back to South Africa to continue his studies and athletic career at Northwest University in Potchefstroom just as the current resurgence in SA sprinting really got started. In 2014 Simon Magakwe became the first South African to dip under 10 seconds in the 100m, whilst Anaso Jobodwana and Wayde van Niekerk showcased on the world stage that South Africa could become the next sprinting powerhouse.
Not scared of taking on a challenge, Pieter initially focused on the 800m, where he regularly clocked 1:48 times and challenged the country’ s 800m specialists with his competitive times, but that all changed when he started focussing solely on his specialist event, the 400m. And that decision paid off when he was crowned the 2017 South African 400m Champion, clocking a new 45.15 personal best in front of his home crowd in Potch.
“ The big plan is to run a nice 800m eventually, but that is still coming. For now I am focussed on the 400m, and my goal is to make my mark at this year’ s World Student Champs in Taiwan, but everything is focused on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, and with Coach Jean Verster and my brother on my side, my support is there,” says Pieter, adding that he feels he is moving in the right direction, but has much work to do.“ It feels good to be where I am, but I am far from where I want to be. If you look at how good Wayde is, I can’ t help but be humbled. The guys are on another level, so I’ m working really hard to get there.”
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
As a result of his drive to succeed, since his return to SA, Pieter has worked on his diet, his gym work and every detail that will make a difference. Two years into the plan and he has improved his personal best by more than one second, is looking good to dip under 45 seconds soon – and if he keeps improving at this rate, he could be a real contender in 2020.
Pieter Conradie is a TomTom Ambassador.
Images: Backtrack Sports & Trevlyn Palframan
16 ISSUE 98 SEPTEMBER 2017 / www. modernathlete. co. za