If the 100 metres Olympic semi-finalist, Gift Leotlela, can have one wish come true in 2022, it would be to remain injury-free up to at least the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
The Tuks-based athlete believes if he does, he might surprise many.
“I know I have not even come close to reaching my full potential as a sprinter. Too often in the past, when I thought I was on the verge of a breakthrough, I got injured.
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“It has been frustrating. If my body can hold up, I know I will surprise many with my feats on the athletics track, including myself.”
Leotlela has a good reason for thinking the way he does. He had a near-perfect season last year up to the Olympic semifinals. He was part of the South African 4x100m-relay team that won gold during the World Relay Championships in Poland.
In May, during the USSA Championships, he won the 100 metres in 9.94s. The Tuks based sprinter is only the sixth South African sprinter to dip under 10 seconds in the short sprint.
He won races in Europe. A definite highlight was winning his heat at the Tokyo Games. He ran shoulder to shoulder with Fred Kearly (USA) and Andre de Grasse (Canada) during the semifinals. But then it happened-the story of his life.
He felt a twitch and then pain. It was his hamstring acting up. It caused him to slow down dramatically over the last 20 or so metres. Still, he finished fourth running 10.04s.
Kerley went on to win silver in the 100 metres final and De Grasse the bronze.
According to Leotlela, he still often watches the video of that Olympic semi-final. It helps him to be motivated.
“That race proved to me that I am good enough to race the best. I know I gave Fred Kearly and Andre de Grasse a run for their money.
To run like that against the top guys is a great confidence booster. Obviously, there is still a lot of work to be done before I can claim to be one of the greats of 100-metre sprints.
“The big thing is not to get ahead of myself-be obsessed with times. Experience has taught to do so is to set yourself up to fail.
My coach, Hennie Kriel, is the one doing the daily planning to get me faster. I trust in him. For now, ‘Coach’ is very cautious with my training. He wants to make sure my body can handle the workload.
“Key to this season is going to be to train more consistently as well as making sure that I recover properly. My body takes time to do so. After running the sub ten seconds race last year, I could not do anything for a week.”
The Tuks athlete won silver in the 200 metres during the Under-20 World Champs as a junior. Leotlela would love to race the 200 metres, but he is also realistic. It might be too risky. But he has not totally given up on the idea.
“Who knows, if my 100 metre training goes well, I might be able to run a fast 200 metres as well.”
