Kyle Blignaut at the Olympic games
Local shot put star Kyle Blignaut talks about his time at the Olympics earlier this year.
With the confidence and demeanour of a hulking bull, South African star athlete Kyle Blignaut stepped into the shot put circle, took a couple of steps forward, secured his feet at the edge of the ring, cradled the shot put ball in his neck and with an explosive spin, launched it across the field to land at an impressive distance of 21m during his third of six attempts.
This remarkable throw during the shot put finals of the 2020 Olympics on August 5 secured Kyle the sixth position. With a throw of 20.97m during the qualifying round on August 3, he placed eighth among the 12 competitors who went on to face off during the finals.
The Monnas old boy has been training under coach Pierre Blignaut (no relation) since he was nine years old. Coach Pierre, whose shot put and discus academy is situated in Krugersdorp, accompanied him, fellow Olympic thrower Jason van Rooyen and other South African athletes to this year’s Olympic Games as one of the South Africa team’s throwing coaches.
In 2018, Kyle took the gold in the IAAF World U20 Championships, and in May this year achieved a new personal best of 21.21m at the South African Universities (USSA) Championships, which was the fourth best distance ever achieved in South Africa. This personal best is 0.24m better than his qualifying throw at the Olympics, and 0.21m better than the distance he achieved during the finals on August 5.
Considering that it was Kyle’s very first Olympic Games, this certainly counts as an exceptional performance by the 21-year-old who’s still in the early stages of his shot put career. Facing off against the giants of world athletics, Kyle missed the bronze medal by just 1.47m against New Zealand national record holder Tom Walsh, and fell 2.3m short of the throw by the USA’s gold medallist and world record holder Ryan Crouser.
In shot put, especially at the Olympics, a few centimetres can mean the difference between securing the world record and finishing in 10th place; therefore for Kyle to finish in sixth position is enough to make a nation proud.
About his time in Tokyo, Kyle said that, “We could’ve just as well been in a hotel room here. You sat in that room, ate and couldn’t go out. It was a very stressful and boring environment. But, I think that’s the way it should be. You train your entire life for this event, so you need to just sit and get your mind right. Afterwards was very fun. We chase distances, so it wasn’t a big deal that there wasn’t a crowd.”
Kyle, who attended Laerskool Florida and Hoërskool Monument High in Krugersdorp, lives in Florida, Roodepoort. He currently assists with coaching the younger athletes at the Pierre Blignaut Shot Put and Discuss Academy, which operates from Hoërskool Noordheuwel’s sports fields.
Going forward, Kyle explained that he and coach Pierre were working towards achieving 22 metres in the next year. He will have a very busy schedule, competing at the Commonwealth Games, SA Championships, the World Athletics Championship and during the European season until the next Olympic Games in 2024.
He said Olympic shot put athletes reach their prime only towards the end of their 20s, and at 21 he still has many years to improve. “I think I’ll keep going until 2032. I believe I’ll get a medal at the next Games.”
