‘Haunted’ by Olympic nightmare, Van Zyl hits the road again

Though she admits she is still recovering from an emotional rollercoaster ride over the last couple of months, distance runner Irvette van Zyl says she is starting to find her feet again after returning to the road.

Having withdrawn from the women’s marathon at the Tokyo Olympics in August – the third time she qualified for the 42km race at the Games but failed to finish – Van Zyl bounced back to grab fourth place at the Spar Grand Prix 10km race in Centurion last week.

And she went one better on Sunday, taking third place at the penultimate leg of the Grand Prix series at Marks Park in Joburg.

While Ethiopian athlete Tadu Nare remained unbeaten after five legs in the campaign, winning comfortably in 33:20, and Kesa Molotsane produced a storming finish to grab second place in 34:34, Van Zyl held on to take the bottom spot on the podium in 34:40.

“I haven’t been training the last few weeks and I’m just getting back into things, so I’m very happy with third place,” Van Zyl said.

At the 2012 London Olympics, Van Zyl withdrew before the halfway mark of the marathon after picking up an Achilles injury, and after arriving in Rio four years later she pulled out on the eve of the showpiece due to a stress fracture.

In a repeat nightmare scenario, the 34-year-old athlete arrived at the recent Tokyo Games eager to put up a fight, but she dropped out of the race with a back injury that flared up just days before the event.

Having told reporters she would not consider herself an Olympian until she finished a race at the quadrennial Games, Van Zyl was understandably gutted when she returned home.

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Facing an uphill battle in an attempt to recover mentally, she turned to a sports psychologist and spent a few weeks trying to deal with her disappointment.

“I’m getting there, but I still get flashbacks of the night before Tokyo. It has haunted me,” said Van Zyl, who broke the 50km world record in Gqeberha earlier this year.

“But that’s in the past now and I need to look towards the future, so I’m working on it day by day.

“This (Grand Prix series) is helping me move forward and regain my confidence.”