It was a case of like father like son yesterday when SW Nel raced across the finish line to win the 110m hurdles during the South African Championships in Pietermaritzburg.
The Tuks athlete is not the first Nel to be speedy over 10 hurdles. His dad, Wimpie, has done the same during the nineties. He was the South African 110-hurdles champion in 1992 and 1993 and simultaneously won two bronze medals at the African Championships. He is now coaching his son.
The younger Nel was excited to emulate his dad’s heroics, but according to him, he can’t claim it is mission accomplished.
“My dad has two titles to his name while I have only got one, so there is still a lot of hard work that awaits me over the next few years, said the 21-year-old. But for now, it is special to have done what my dad has done.”
Yesterday, Nel won in a time of 13.73 seconds. It is a 0.11-second improvement on his previous best time. The Tuks athlete believes he can be even faster.
“My performance in the final was far from perfect. I have ‘hit’ the first two hurdles, which nearly led to me taking a tumble. It definitely slowed me down by a few hundredths of a second. The one thing I need to work on is to be stronger. If I do, I know I will be faster.”
With dad and son on the same track, there is bound to be conflict or, at times, even harsh words. It does not faze the younger Nel.
“Before a race, my dad would go out of his way to get me angry, and with good reason. The more angrier I am when racing, the better I race. During training, it is a different story. Then, my dad is at pains to ensure I understand what he expects me to do. He reasons that racing will be easier if you can execute your technique flawlessly during training.”
As any young athlete, Nel dreams of competing in the Olympic Games.
“Honestly, it will take a miracle for me to compete in Paris in July. The qualifying standard is 13.27s. I will be happy if I can get close to running 13.40s this season. If I do, I might qualify for the Olympic Games on the World Athletics ranking system. But for now, I am happy to compete at the African Championships in Cameroon in June.”
Tuks’s Kayla van der Bergh finished second in the women’s 100m hurdles. Marione Fourie won in a time of 13.01s. Van der Bergh’s time was 13.40s. She was faster in the heats, running 13.30s. It is a massive personal best. In March, she won the South African under-23 title in 13.53s. She is also the South African student’s champion. Before the season, her best time was 13.65s.
Morne van As (Tuks) won silver in the decathlon, while Peace Adedokun (Tuks) finished third in the men’s triple jump.
