Watch: Phenomenal athlete Hans Sliep shares his inspirational story

As an A-list athlete, mentor and coach for 40 years, Sliep is an athletics superstar who is still flourishing in the sport.

He was recently crowned the biathlon and triathlon world champion after winning both multiple sport events at the World Championships in Spain.

The achievement in Spain was an addition to his impressive international record. He’s a senior Olympic champion in the 800m and 1 500m track events.

“I’m very, very fortunate to be doing it and blessed to still be doing it,” he said about his involvement in the sport.

• Career

Sliep began his career by doing sprints at Laerskool Jan van Riebeeck in Springs and then proceeded to completing middle distances at Hugenote Seuns which is now known as Hoërskool Hugenote.

Interestingly, his main sport and passion were gymnastics as his words support: “I had a fantastic gymnastics coach and I loved my gymnastics.”

The other sport he pursued from primary school to high school, is rugby. He received provincial colours for the sport in primary school as a versatile backline player.

He carried on with rugby in high school but a broken wrist spelled the end of his gymnastics and rugby.

“That was goodbye to my gymnastics because with a broken wrist in gymnastics you’re basically buggered because there’s nothing you can do with a broken wrist.

“So one of the teachers at the school, Mr Corrie Bouer, who was a very clever guy said to me, ‘Listen, you can’t play rugby now, you can’t do gymnastics so come and train with us because then you will stay fit for the rugby,’ and I said okay.

“For a couple of weeks I trained with them and then this one Friday he said, ‘Listen we’ve got a cross country in Krugersdorp somewhere and you’ve been training with us so come along, just come and run for the fun.’

“So I went to the school and that Saturday…I won the race in my age group. I was quite surprised and said to him: ‘My gymnastics days are over and I’m actually really too small and too light to carry on with the rugby and why don’t I just give it my all?’

“That’s what that coach had in mind as well…and he actually took me under his wing. He was like my second father and he looked after me. As from then, I thanked him for everything I’ve got in life. He was such a wonderful person. He made me a SA champ, he made me get my national Springbok colours and his coaching was years and years ahead of the other coaches in those days. He was a great coach and I learned a lot from him.”

Sliep has since won multiple athletics accolades including his eye-popping record of 38 consecutive South African biathlon titles.

• Coaching

Sliep (70) has organised a lot of coaching courses all over the country. He did numerous coaching exams and achieved an IAAF level 3 qualification. Apart from being in all corners of the Republic, he’s also done coaching courses in Germany and Russia.

He once took 60 of his trained athletes to Russia for a training camp and athletics meeting. The group also travelled to Switzerland, Holland and Germany.

Some of the athletes he’s coached include Wikus Weber who became one of the top triathlon athletes in the country. Marinda Oosthuisen became the SA champion in the 1 500m.

Sliep also coached biathlon athletes and eight of them from different age groups won gold at the world championships.

• Motoring

The Witfield resident is also an avid Porsche fanatic and owner. His current German toy is his eighth Porsche.

Quizzed on how the passion for the 911 began, he explained: “When I stayed in Springs, there was a guy named Dawie Gouws who lived opposite us. He was a Porsche fanatic and raced his Porsches. He won the nine-hour race a couple of times. I used to clean his car when I came from school.

“And then Fridays when they went to Kyalami during those days, he took me with. Sometimes I’d sit on his lap and drive around the track or sit in the pits and help there. That’s how it started. He had some beautiful racing cars. Even when he went to fetch one of his newer Porsche cars, he took me with to Cape Town to fetch his car from the boat.”

Sliep started to save for his first Porsche as a student and finally got it in 1972 – a Porsche 912.

He still offers training and writes programmes for aspiring athletes. He can be contacted on 083 228 8906. – @SabeloBoksburg

DID YOU KNOW:

• Sliep was a student and a teacher at Hugenote Seuns, today known Hoërskool Hugenote.
• He was also a teacher at Hoërskool EG Jansen.
• He’s been bitten by a puff adder and took months to recover.
• He’s kept a python as a pet for more than three years.
• The two top athletes he’s coached, Weber and Oosthuisen, are now also coaches and teachers.