Jo-Ane du Plessis settling into new surroundings as she aims big in 2025

Having experienced some changes in her personal life and her career, Olympic javelin throw silver medallist Jo-Ane du Plessis (formerly Van Dyk) says she has settled into her new environment as she gears up for the 2025 season.

After being based in Potchefstroom for the last nine years, Du Plessis moved to Cape Town in October with her new husband Johan du Plessis.

Her coach, Terseus Liebenberg, was still based in Potchefstroom, but Du Plessis said she was spending one week a month in Potch and Liebenberg was spending a week a month in Cape Town.

She admitted it might take time to determine whether this approach was going to work, but she was starting to settle into her new surroundings.

“The biggest challenge for me now is settling and just finding my space,” Du Plessis said after receiving the Female Athlete of the Year accolade at the Athletics South Africa Awards at the weekend.

“I’m used to Potch so I’m out of my comfort zone and I’m adapting to the new training facilities. It takes time to settle but I’m starting to feel much more at home.”

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Aiming beyond 65 metres

Having enjoyed a breakthrough season last year, which saw her setting a personal best of 64.22 metres and stunning her opponents to grab Olympic silver, Du Plessis hoped to go bigger this year.

She was eager to clear the 65m barrier and was also aiming to step on the podium at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.

“I would like to break the 65-metre barrier this year, so that’s the plan, and we’ll see from there,” Du Plessis said.

“For now that’s my goal in terms of distance. And I want a medal at the World Championships.”

Long-term goal

While she had a long way to go to challenge Sunette Viljoen’s national women’s javelin throw record of 69.35m, Du Plessis said it was a long-term goal she hoped to achieve at some point down the line.

“It’s a phenomenal record, so it’s definitely something I want to do in the long term, but not this year,” she said.

“I think this year 65m is what I want to break, but if I can break the record (in future) that would be great. I’m now 27 and only approaching my prime, so you never know what might happen.”