Ayanda Sebetha, who is in Grade grade 9 at Queens High School was awarded three medals after competing in the recent Prestige Athletics event.
She received gold medals in the U15 500-metre race, 1 500-metre race and 400-metre race. “I feel very happy about my achievements. It has always been my wish to be the best junior in athletics and I am willing to do more,” she said.
“I started participating in athletics when I was nine years old. I started running for [my] school that very same year.”
Sebetha said she participated in athletics because running was compulsory at primary school and she was inspired by being the fastest runner amongst her peers. “We used to run at primary school. There was always a competition and I would always be the fastest. I started taking athletics seriously because I had fun. I was always happy as I was the fastest runner,” she said.
“I was inspired by my primary school teacher. He saw my potential and encouraged me by training me to become what I am today.”
Athletics is not a hobby that she only does when she is bored. “I would like to become an Olympian athlete. I want to compete against top athletes. I want to study sports management after completing my matric.
“Athletics is a good sport. One needs to be willing to do it. You need to train hard to achieve the goals.”
