TOP SOUTH African athletes Wayde van Niekerk, Akani Simbine and Rushwal Samaai are set for a bumper year. The trio, who are managed by Peet van Zyl, are bracing themselves for a busy year on the track on both the domestic and international front.
With the European athletics season starting in May, Van Zyl is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to organise races for them abroad.
The 400m world record holder (43.03 sec) Van Niekerk and Mzansi’s 100m record holder (9.89 sec) Simbine will also have a training camp with Olympic superstar Usain Bolt in Jamaica in June.
The training camp will form part of their preparations for the IAAF World Championships in London, England, in August.
Van Niekerk won the gold medal in the 400m at the Rio Olympics, while Simbine became the first South African to feature in the men’s 100m Olympic final in Brazil.
Long jumper Samaai won the gold medal at the African Senior Athletics Championships in Durban with a leap of 8,40m.
Van Zyl is confident that the trio will surpass their achievements of 2016. He told SunSport: “We always go to Europe to prepare for global events. They will start competing abroad in May.”
“But we also have to sit down with Athletics SA to see which events they can compete in at home. We have to be careful when it comes to choosing competitions to avoid fatigue – it’s going to be a long year for our athletes.
“Training with Bolt in Jamaica remains our highlight for the year and they are certainly looking forward to the training camp in June.”
“Training with Bolt will help them to achieve their goal.”
The Jamaican superstar, who is set to retire from the sport after the world champs, also held a training camp in Kingston, Jamaica, last year.
Mzansi’s poster boy Van Niekerk is back in training already and has started his preparations for the new season. Samaai and Simbine have also been training for a while now.
Van Zyl said: “Van Niekerk is training hard. He is looking to defend his 400m world title in London.
“Akani is looking to improve and hopefully secure a podium finish, while Rushwal has recovered from the injury that affected him in Rio last year. It’s all systems go for our athletes. The coaches are happy with their fitness, conditioning and preparations so far.”
