Young athlete aims for the Olympics
Young athlete keeps his dreams alive despite Covid-19.
Athlete Jonathan de Klerk (20) trains to keep his dreams of representing South Africa in the Olympics one day alive.
He took a gap year from his studies to focus on getting his stamina back and regaining his fitness. Two years ago, he competed at the Central Gauteng Athletics and won a silver in the boys’ u-19 100m sprint in a time of 11:27 seconds.
He said he used to participate and compete in several sporting codes, including long jump, while at school, but four years ago he started to focus on athletics.
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“I had undergone an operation, which saw me taking some time off the tracks, but I have bounced back since then,” said de Klerk.
“I have been training for two hours a day. I am in the best shape of my life, running at 10.5km/h, which is better than my previous records.”
His coach, Stephané Kotzé, is pleased with de Klerk’s progress.
“He is at his fastest speed right now. The goal is to get him to do at least 10.3km/h,” said Kotzé.
“I began training athletes at Germiston Stadium in 1980 and have 41 years’ experience in coaching.
“During my prime years, I was a top athlete, competing in the 100m and 200m sprints and long jump.
“They can’t wait for the authorities to give them a go-ahead to train at the Germiston Stadium on the athletics tracks because they have been training on the soccer ground by the stadium, or sometimes they have to travel to Benoni to train there.
“This is the best stadium I have seen in my entire life.”
De Klerk also added that he would one day love to study mechatronics in the engineering field because he loves working with his hands.
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