Brothers close to Olympic dream

Wrestling brothers Dean and Justin van Zyl are heading off to Alexandria in Egypt next month.

They will be participating in the Senior African Wrestling Championships and are the only two wrestlers from Central Gauteng Wrestling Association to be in the South African team.

If they finish in the top 3, they will go through to Mongolia where they will participate for a chance to compete in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.

Should they fail in Mongolia, they will get a second bite of the cherry in Turkey.

The brothers qualified for the continental competition after participating in the SA national senior trials last month.

Here they had to claim first place in their categories.

Dean and Justin have a wealth of experience and have participated in the championships.

Dean who brought back a silver medal at the 2007 African Championships is thrilled that he is close to his goal.

“It is exciting to know that we are only a step away from qualifying for the Olympics. It is a lifelong dream of mine to represent my country on that grand stage. Every athlete trains hard for the chance to be there,” he said.

Justin is a previous junior Africa championship winner and he is thrilled to have the chance to realize his dream.

“I have been training hard for this opportunity my whole life. It has been 20-years of wrestling, trying to qualify for the Olympics. Being so close to that goal is exciting,” he said.

They are currently involved in the national practices which are held weekly as well as training camps over the weekend.

This is all to prepare for the championships next month.

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Randfontein Herald, Krugersdorp News and Get It Joburg West Magazine

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