Wayde van Niekerk: A Legend

I thought I would share this post again. Wayde van Niekerk won gold tonight in the 400m at the IAAF World Champiosnhips. Will he make it a double and win gold in the 200 m as well? Reply

#15
Gert Scholtz the story becomes more and more interesting as I peel all its many onion layers and added to that layer now is the story of Niekerk's mother - Odessa Swarts who was an athlete herself but could not compete for South Africa because of all of that which surrounded apartheid including sanctions http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/odessa-swarts-wayde-van-niekerk_us_57b1ebc6e4b007c36e4f6dab If only Nelson Mandela was alive now, he would have embraced this story the way he saw the significance of the Rugby World Cup https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/08/nelson-mandela-francois-pienaar-rugby-world-cup For me what is important is not the World record because records can be broken, or the Ans Botha story because that can simply be our need for a feel good story, or the Odessa Swarts story because of our natural inclination to right a wrong - it is the story of that which encapsulates Nelson Mandela's book title "The Long Walk to Freedom" or in other words the very gracious way Odessa Swarts speaks of her sons victory here http://www.iol.co.za/olympics-rio-2016/waydes-olympic-glory-what-his-parents-have-to-say-2057506 Reply

CityVP Manjit Dear Manjit - thank you for enriching this post with the additional information and comments on Ans Botha. What a remarkable woman! Reply

#12
Dear Lisa, I do have tip my hat to Wayde also because athletes will distance themselves from troubled people when it can affect their brand image, but Wayde was also inspired by Oscar Pistorius. He is friends with Pistorius and acknowledges his awful crime but he has not abandoned him and distanced himself - instead he acknowledges Pistorius's contribution and not condemn his friend to a lifetime of social judgement. One cannot have a movie worthy script without the moral dilemma http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/14/wayde-van-niekirk-lashawn-merritt-usa-track-and-field-mens-400-meters-final-results/88737134/ here Wayde's thinking is not the norm, it is thinking fit for the 21st Century. Here you need to read the story of Mimi Silbert from San Fransisco and what inspired her to create the Delancey Street Foundation http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/circle.php such thinking is not the "lock them up and throw away the key", it is thoughtful and yet the practice Silbert deals with prisoner rehabilitation back into society is not some wall flower, but highly disciplined and based on tough expectations in a era where the psyche of incarceration has made the American prison system a cheap form of labour for corporations and for corporate ownership of the existing prison system. Moreover such a movie should not become another Disney feature film - it is best filmed as a serious look at who we are as humanity and what humanity is in the 21st Century, with the backdrop of unethical financial practices in sports and the illegal use of drugs to create athletes as machinery of media and equally the gold-digger mentality it also inspires a.k.a. the sad story of Marion Jones. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/7184067.stm Then we give full value to the measure of what I find here and strike up not a moralistic view but a human one. Reply

Just awesome, agree with CityVP Manjit, movie worthy! Reply

#9
Oh! this makes this already feel good story richer by imaginable margins - absolutely loved learning about the Ans Botha story, it is movie worthy to the point that if someone had made a movie about this before, no one would ever believe the plot - but it has happened and it is very, very real. I checked out https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/16/ans-botha-74-coach-wayde-van-niekerk-400m-world-record-rio-olympics + http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/meet-the-74-year-old-great-grandma-who-coached-400-meter-star-to-gold_us_57b187d3e4b071840411cf86 - amazing, amazing woman and her superb protege. Reply

#9
Wonderful lesson!!!! Kudos to her! 💫 Reply

Henri Galv\u00e3o Thank you for reading and commenting. Here in SA Wayde's coach Ans Botha is almost just as big a sensation. The great grandmother, who has been coaching athletics for five decades, last year attended her first IAAF Championship overseas. She watched the other coaches and athletes carefully and had this to say afterwards: “I only stole coaching ideas with my eyes. That is, if I see something that will work on my athletes, I will try it and implement it. That’s how I always try to bring something new in our training. They have to enjoy training; that’s very important. They say you’re never too old to learn, especially in athletics.” Reply

Another great post to learn a bit more about SA Gert Scholtz. Reply

Wayde van Niekerk the new role model for using the gift of natural talent, combined with great coaching, hard work and dedication. Thanks for posting. Reply

That 10/20/almost 43 is quite an achievement. Perhaps the greatest ever from Souht Africa to excel in athletics, but sure not the greatest ever South African sportsman? The de Villiers chap might well be the best sportsman on the planet! I'd love to hear more on Ans Botha. She sounds quite a character. Great buzz Gert Scholtz Reply

If this was an American athlete the media would have gone ballistic and heralded this achievement alongside Usain Bolt's victory. They did 17 years ago when they declared Michael Johnson's 400 meters record was phenomenal. Nierkerk just obliterated that record and nearly became the first man to run under 43 seconds - yet Bolt must have known this man's achievement himself because as he was celebrating his 3rd Olympic title, he went towards the crowd and there he hugged who else, but a South African athlete.called Wayde van Niekerk. I am sure that in South Africa they will talk of no one else but Niekerk - and he deserves massive recognition for this massive achievement. Reply

an outstanding and impressive athlete !! Reply

Impressive running!!! Congrats to van Niekerk! Reply