ATHLETICS
SA athletes prepare
Mon, 26 Nov 2007
Free State Athletics’ sprinter, Kagiso Kumbane, looks set to challenge for a place in the team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The young up and coming star has been hard at work this week during the Athletics South Africa Elite athletes training camp. The week-long camp was held at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria, Tshwane.
“I am starting serious training after two months of rest where I focused on completing my matric examinations. During the camp I was able to gauge my level of fitness, which is crucial when shaping up for the challenge ahead,” says Kumbane.
Kumbane was also reminded of his special place as the “baby of the camp” when team-mates sang for him on his 19th Happy Birthday on Wednesday last week. This seems to have lifted the spirits of the youngest athlete at the camp.
“I have completed high school and looking forward to university education. At the same time in athletics I am also crossing over from competing with juniors to staking my place among the senior sprinters,” says Kumbane.
He expects the transition to be smooth because he competed regularly with senior athletes both on the domestic scene and at Southern Africa Region meets in Botswana and Namibia. This gave him the confidence before his three big meets of the year.
“Exposure competing at the All Africa Games in Algiers (Algeria), the Africa Junior Championships in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and going to the World Championships in Osaka (Japan) all gave me a new insight into what is required of a serious athlete, for which I am very grateful to ASA,” says Kumbane.
What’s more he returned home with medals. Kumbane earned two bronze medals from the 100 metres and 200 metres in Burkina Faso, before anchoring the victorious 4x100 metre relay.
"I expect to improve my 100 metres (10.42 seconds) and 200 metres (20.75). Next year I look forward to rubbing shoulders with the big boys at the Africa Senior Championships in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is there where I hope to earn respect among the senior athletes before Beijing," says Kumbane.
Meanwhile, a change of coach and training venue has South Africa’s Commonwealth high jump champion Anika Smit convinced she will break new grounds in the coming season.
Formerly based at the University of the North West in Potchefstroom, Smit has now settled in Tshwane where she will have easier access to her new coach, Hugo Badenhorst. This is part of her strategy aimed at soaring to greater heights next year.
“Although the work load that come with training twice a day is quite demanding on me, I think it is worthwhile. The change is already bearing fruit. I feel much stronger and technically more explosive,” says Smith.
Perhaps the biggest difference in her training is the scientific support system at the HPC in Pretoria. “Previously I was just here for a week during the ASA training camps. Now I have more access to the facilities. Surely this should have a significant impact on me when I compete,” Smit explained.
“My goal is to jump higher next year. The international competition will be much stiffer because it is an Olympic year. Who would not want to excel at the 2008 Beijing Olympics? At the end of day, I am using everything at my disposal to improve on my career best of 1.93 metres. After all, we want to be at our best in Beijing,” says Smit.
Sapa