Dayaan Jappie can run 100m in 00:12:26 – not bad for a 14-year-old.
He and Sarah Copeland (13) are in Grade 8 at Heron Bridge College, HeronBridge College and are future athletics stars. Copeland, a Chartwell resident, came second in the 1 200m event at last year’s Prestige Athletics event for Joburg’s private schools. Honeydew resident, Jappie came third in high-jump, long-jump and the 200m sprint at the meeting.
The two joined coach Masrour Ehrman’s holiday clinic at Ruimsig Athletics Stadium to prepare for the private schools’ athletics season. “I have worked on their speed, endurance and technique mostly,” Ehrman said.
“For his age, Dayaan is very quick. There are some 17-year-old athletes who cannot run as fast as him. Sarah is a very strong long-distance runner. If they put [the] effort in, they could go very far.”
For Jappie, being a professional athlete is not at the top of his to-do list. “I run because it is fun,” the quiet but confident boy said simply.
“I don’t know yet what I will do [in terms of running professionally].” He added that his current goal was just to improve his time, which he thought was not good enough.
Copeland, a bubbly character, by contrast, likes to run long distances and enjoys cross country as a sport. “The holiday clinic was great because I got to train on the track instead of on the road, and there were other athletes and our coach who pushed me to improve,” she said.
These athletes are certainly two to watch out for.
