Young athlete breaks 7th national record
WESTDENE – The young Decland Wright is breaking records, one championship after another.
With 11 Central Gauteng Athletics medals, nine national medals, seven national records and five world records, 13-year-old Decland Wright from Sophiatown kept the pace going and broke another two national records at the South African inter-provincial championship.
On 19 November, Wright broke the 800m and 1 500m national record in his age group. He ran the 800m in 0:02:06, and the 1 500m in 0:04:20.
Wright said he initially paced himself and then picked up speed every few hundred metres, not always in the lead, but ending in record time.
The young athlete already has a dedicated team made up of mentors and professionals from his athletics club, Brotherhood. Shadrack Hoff, USA coach Tom Swartz, Mandla Radebe from Central Gauteng Athletics, his physiotherapist Henk Beukes and his father, Donovan Wright, who broke two records over the same distances of the Transplant Games also on 19 November. He has been battling cancer for the past few years.
Inspired by his father and the will to succeed, Wright said he wants to be both an Olympic medalist and haematologist to help the fight against cancer. This, of course, after he has participated in his second Olympics.
Next year, Wright hopes to prove himself as an athlete at Vorentoe High School, where he will attend Grade 9. The school principal, Hans Saestad, produced Ruben Ramolephi, who ran 8:11:75 in the 3 000m steeplechase, a South African record holder and Olympian. Here he will also focus on getting the grades he needs to become a specialist physician.
Just like his heroes Wayde van Niekerk and Mo Farah, Wright was born to run fast. “God willing, I will have my first race for Vorentoe next year,” he said.
As the young athlete continues to take the sport in his stride, he remembers what he has been taught. “Running taught me respect. If you win, you earn respect. If you lose and you tried your best, you earn respect.”
A last word from Wright?
“Don’t let your dreams fail on judgmental opinions. Your dreams are built on you, yourself and your mental approach towards your dreams.”
