“I like sprinting because you get to go as fast as you can without really having to think about what you are doing.”
This was Tebogo Mamathu’s (TuksAthletics) answer when she was asked why she loves running.
It would be interesting to see how fast the third-year Sport Science student at the University of Pretoria really can go when she settles down in her starting blocks in the second Varsity Athletics meeting in Pretoria, to race in the 100 metres on 31 March.
At a Tuks league which took place on the 25-26 February 2017, Tebogo raced to a time of 11.45s which is just 0.05 seconds slower than her best time of 11.40s. It was her first race this season.
According to last year’s statistics she was South Africa’s third fastest female sprinter. Carina Horn (TuksAthletics) clocked a time of 11.07s. Alyssa Conley (University Johannesburg) ran 11.23s while Mamathu set a personal best time of 11.40s.
The past four years have challenging for Mamathu. Every time she was getting ready to hit “top speed” she was brought to an abrupt halt due to some unforeseen injury. But touch wood her injuries will hopefully be something of the past.
One of the reasons Mamathu refused to quit is her confidence in her sprinting abilities.
“I have hope that I will also get to the top one day. I just need to keep doing the long and hard hours.”
According to Mamathu there was never any doubt that she was going to make athletics the sport of her choice.
“Don’t ask me to hit a ball with a stick or a racket or to catch it. I am not great at that. I was born to be a runner. Choosing to become a sprinter came easy. The whole tactical thinking thing is not for me. Theoretically I know that there are supposed to be six phases in the sprint but when it is time for me to race I just go as fast as my legs allow me.
“When I go down in my starting blocks I take time to think. I usually visualise working with my arms and accelerating over the first 20 metres. On a good day during training I often get to beat the boys out of the blocks,” said the Tuks athlete who trains with Olympians Gift Leotlela and Clarence Munyai.
Mamathu admits that she is yet to race the perfect race.
“I think the closest I got to it was last year at Pilditch when I ran 11.40s. After the race I got the feeling that I am not done yet as I still have a lot more fuel left in the ‘tank’.”
She is however not prepared to commit to a specific time.
“In the past when I thought about running a specific time before a race I failed. So now my only goal is to run fast and whatever happen happens.”
She credits her coach, Hennie Kriel, and Thando Roto who ran a wind assisted time of 9.98s two weeks ago as the people who have had the biggest influence on her running career.
In the first leg of Varsity Athletics she won in a time of 11.71 – just 0.07 seconds quicker than UJ’s Tsoane Sebele. Will she set a PB at the end of the month and help Tuks to the 2017 Varsity Athletics title, or will Sebele edge her in their second encounter? We will just have to wait and see.
By Wilhelm de Swardt
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