Hezekiel Sepeng pleased with the team’s Olympics performance

Having served as the team’s assistant manager in Paris, Sepeng is optimistic about the future, particularly looking ahead to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

His optimism is fuelled by ASA’s success in Paris, where the team secured two silver medals in the 4x100m relay and the javelin, marking a significant improvement after failing to win medals in Doha 2019, Oregon 2021, Tokyo 2020, and Budapest 2023.

"According to me, we did very well. I know South Africa wants medals, but we did better than the previous," said Sepeng.

"At two world championships we didn't do well, but this year – two medals, silver medals, athletics with personal bests, and athletes with national records, our athletes were not just there to fill up the numbers."

Sepeng was inspired by the determination shown by athletes like Akani Simbine and Prudence Sekgodiso, who not only reached the finals at the Olympic Games but also made the country proud with their performances.

"I will talk about the likes of Akani Simbine, he fought for that medal, it was a do or die. Talk about Prudence Sekgodiso, I spoke to her even before the race. She went all out for it even though it did not work, but it was a good experience for her," added Sepeng.

Sepeng said that they plan to reassess their strategy and adopt a similar approach to what they used with the relay team, which ultimately earned a medal. 

They began their relay initiative in 2016, resulting in a silver medal in the 4x100m. They intend to launch new projects for other events with the goal of achieving comparable success in the future.

''Look, when you talk about medals, I think we need to go back. When we started the relay project, we looked around and found that the potential is there in the relays,'' he concluded.

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