News09 Feb 2005


400m Hurdles - South Africa’s parade event

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Ockert Cilliers (left ) edges out Louis van Zyl (middle) to win the 400m Hurldes (© Ouma)

The serious battle between South Africa’s crop of talented 400m Hurdlers to secure the three team places available for the World Championships in Helsinki began in style at the first of six ABSA Series meetings at Potchefstroom last weekend. Two athletes bettered the A-qualifying standard while two others came very close. Ockert Cilliers, the world’s fifth fastest of 2004, won the race in 48.98, while LJ van Zyl, the 2002 World Junior champion, also qualified with 49.11.    

Behind these two Wouter le Roux (19) improved his personal best to 49.25 in finishing third, while Ter de Villiers, the silver medal winner at the 2000 World Juniors, who has returned to the track after being injured for more than two and a half years, was quite happy with his fourth place in 49.34. Le Roux won the World Youth silver in Sherbrooke in 2003 and was a finalist in the World Junior Championships in Grosseto last year.

Great depth of talent  - 7 athletes regularly below 50 seconds!   

The 400m Hurdles is the event in which South Africa possesses the most depth. With at least seven or eight runners running regularly below 50 seconds the task of booking berths to major events like the Olympics, the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games is never easy. With the exception of the United States, South Africa, Jamaica and Japan are on a par for the title as the second “strongest” country in this one lap hurdling discipline. South Africa has a small lead over Jamaica and Japan when playing with statistics but on the senior championship stage, Danny McFarlane and others have done slightly better the last few years.  The main showdown between South Africa and Jamaica can be expected at next year’s Commonwealth meeting in Melbourne in March.

Outstanding World Junior and Youth success rate 

The fine record is demonstrated in the fact that since South Africa’s return to global  athletics in 1992, it has had at least one finalist – and four medal winners - in every World Junior  Championship final ever since.  All the athletes mentioned above have won medals at either the IAAF’s Junior or Youth championships.

Herbert and Myburgh have yet to start their seasons  

The quality of 400m hurdling in South Africa is so high when it is considered that two leading names like Llewellyn Herbert and Alwyn Myburgh were not even among the four who featured at Potchefstroom. Also, Marnus Kritzinger, the first World Youth champion in 1999 and also a sub-49 second runner, is also planning for a later top-level start this year.              

Herbert, Olympic bronze medal winner in Sydney, will be opening his account in Finland this week, while Myburgh, an Olympic finalist in Athens, ran in the 400m flat and will only run his first hurdles race of 2005 in a few weeks time.  Before departing for Finland, Herbert said that he was happy with his form and in better shape than this time last year.   He was looking forward to his first full 400m Hurdles - indoors in Vaasa’s vast hall this week (9 Feb). 

Herbert - The problem of the double season peak  

The main obstacles confronting South Africans every year are to ensure a good performance at the national championships, which normally take place in April after about ten weeks of strenuous competition, and then to peak again in August at global level.

Herbert, the South African record holder with a time of 47.81, set in Sydney, told me that he was not in favour of the local system that the first two in the national championships automatically qualify for the worlds and that one position would be left open until later in the year. “It would be much better if a final selection of the three be left until about three weeks before the world meeting.”  

If all goes well Herbert hopes to feature in his third World championship final this year. He won silver in 1997 in Athens, missed 1999 through injury, was eliminated in 2001 shortly after a return from injury, and fell in the Paris final two years ago when he was well placed.  The 27-year-old failed to reach the Olympic final in Athens because of what he states were personal reasons which occurred after he had recorded his best time of the year – 48.03 - in Lausanne.  In that race he drew future Olympic champion Felix Sanchez to his best time at that stage of the season.

Myburgh’s family tradition     

Alwyn Myburgh (24), fifth in Athens and 2001 World Student Games champion with a personal best of 48.09 ,  is full of confidence and aiming to dip below 48 seconds this year.    “I have spent some time with my parents in London and for that reason I shall start running hurdle races slightly later although I hope to qualify at the national championships in Durban in April. I have to write an important exam in May before going to Europe where I am thinking of running three races in June. After that I shall build up towards Helsinki.”        

Myburgh’s parents won 17 national titles between them in the seventies – dad Hugo in the 400m but also a 50.04 hurdler; and mother Hybre in the two Hurdles, High Jump and Pentathlon – when they also represented South Africa before isolation abroad. 

Quick beginnings for Cilliers 

“I was more surprised than anyone else with the fast race,” said national champion Cilliers about last week’s race in Potchefstroom. “With the type of training I have been doing to date, I did not think I was capable of going under 49 seconds especially with Llewellyn and Alwyn not in the race, but LJ (van Zyl) and Wouter ran faster than I thought and gave an indication of what can be expected.”  

Cilliers, who could not maintain his brilliant season form of 2004 when he clocked fast times of 48.02 (at altitude) and 48.23, winning the national title at sea-level in Durban, will adopt a new pattern this year and although hoping to be selected for the World Championships in Helsinki where he intends to peak, he wishes to focus on the European season and to run fast times.  As part of his build-up he will spend a lot of time in Europe with his base in Germany. The 24-year-old graduate at Potchefstroom University and  winner of the silver medal at the 2000 World Juniors, was pleased with his opening 48.98.

Others in the hunt for top honours are LJ van Zyl, Marnus Kritzinger, Wouter le Roux and Ter de Villiers (PB 49.28 in June 2002 but sidelined by injury until this year), is a dark horse in the 2005 scenario.   Running in only his third race of the year last weekend he was delighted with his 49.34 clocking.  “I could not have wished for a better return.  It boosted my confidence and I am now really looking forward to the year ahead. I have not set any targets but decided to take it from race to race,” he said, and added that he was pleased that he had moved from Stellenbosch to Pretoria where he finds himself in the training squad of coach Hennie Kotze, along with Myburgh, and former World Junior champion LJ van Zyl.

Call me “LJ”     
     
Van Zyl, who prefers to be called “LJ” instead of Louis and an exciting winner of the 2002 World Junior crown at the age of only 16, is another who has moved to be with coach Kotze, himself a former 49.26 hurdler.  The youngster oozes confidence after achieving the Helsinki A-standard.  He was disappointed not to retain his global junior title last year (he placed fourth) but he is looking ahead and has goals “to run in the low 48’s towards the middle of the year, to gain a place to the World Student Games in Turkey, and most importantly, to be selected for the team to Helsinki. Time will tell. I don’t want to say too much at this stage,” Van Zyl confirmed. 

Herbert’s junior record is the aim for Kritzinger

Kritzinger, gold medal winner at the 1999 World Youth Championships, is always one for the big occasion.  He was the third qualifier at last year’s national championships for the Athens Olympics but he had to stand down for Herbert who clocked faster times in Europe.   

The final contender at this early stage of 2005 is Wouter le Roux who will be running with Herbert in Finland this week. He is in very good shape and in the clouds after the Potchefstroom race. “Being still a junior I will obviously try to rub shoulders with the others for a place in the Helsinki team. With nothing major at junior level this year, I shall try to break Llewellyn Herbert’s African and national junior record of 48.76.

Gert le Roux for the IAAF

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