Tuks’ athletes are at long last able to do what they love, which is to jump, hurdle, sprint or throw on a synthetic track again.
It had been nearly four months since they were last able to do so. During the COVID-19 lockdown, most tried to keep fit by sprinting up and down streets. It turned out to be a quite jarring experience for some as track and field athletes are not supposed to be running on tar roads. Anyway, not day after day.
REWIND: Munyai’s thoughts in March on Tokyo 2020 postponement
Clarence Munyai (South African 200m record holder), Rikenette Steenkamp (South African 100m hurdles record holder) and the ‘old man’ of South African athletics Ruan de Vries (110m hurdler) were the first three yesterday to sprint down the Tuks track.
For Munyai, the 200m national champion in 2016 and African Under-20 champion a year later, it was fun. He hopes it might be the start of the return to what is perceived to be normality.
He is, however, hesitant to get his hopes up about competing internationally. For now, he is taking it one day at a time appreciating the joy of sprinting.
ATHLETE PROFILE Clarence Munyai
Full name: Clarence Munyai
Born: 20/2/1998 in Muldersdrift
Athletics discipline: 200m (personal best: 19.69 – 2018)
Varsity Athletics history: 2016-17
Update courtesy Wilhelm de Swardt/TuksSport Media. Full article: Tuks’ Olympic hopefuls allowed to resume training on the track
