WELCOME
Hello and welcome to the
RELAUNCH ISSUE
of Modern Athlete Magazine!
It’ s a super-exciting time to have taken the reins as the new editor of the monthly mag. As you’ ll see, we’ re taking a bit of a different direction, broadening our coverage to include all sports.
The ultimate aim remains the same, though – to share stories that inspire. They’ re not always going to be about those elites at the top of their sports( although those will be in there too) but also those who have overcome serious obstacles, worked incredibly hard and achieved something truly phenomenal.
So this month, we bring you a real mixture of things – there’ s the cover feature about Matt Smith, who has us all daring to dream a little more extravagantly, having gone from recreational triathlete to Winter Olympian in the space of just three years. There’ s also a reminder that age doesn’ t have to stop you from pursuing new goals, with SA’ s retired Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh making a surprising return to the pool. There’ s the extraordinary story of Waris Mills, who overcame some debilitating mental health challenges to break a brutal open water swimming record. And best of all, she’ s not done yet.
Speaking of mental health, be sure to check out Dr Kirsten van Heerden’ s tips on how to bin the New Year, New Me-type resolutions and stay motivated in your training all the way through the year.
And there’ s the usual mix of great content from our regular columnists, including SPAR Proteas netball captain Khanyisa Chawane, who is currently in the throes of a Test series against England, and our favourite comedian, Rory Petzer, who was feeling some epic FOMO recently. Then there are a few fun bits and pieces, like catching up with hockey’ s hottest couple ahead of Valentine’ s Day, and 26 things to try in 2026, if you haven’ t already. We hope you enjoy!
If you know of someone you’ d like to see featured in these pages, or if you have any kind of feedback, please don’ t hesitate to reach out. We’ d love to hear from you.
Until next month,
Karien Jonckheere Karien @ modernathlete. co. za
P. S A bit about myself – I’ m a sports journo with 20 + years in the game, a full-blown Olympic obsession( six Games covered), and a stubbornly sunny outlook. Swimming is my own sport of choice – Midmar Mile number six is looming, but if it’ s sports-related, I’ m interested!
4 www. modernathlete. co. za