Erasmus eyes Olympics
This was Kriel’s first continental competition as a senior wrestler.
Martin Erasmus has his eye set on qualifying for this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The Brakpan Wrestling Club member will be competing in the qualifiers in Morocco next month and he will be confident after bringing home a silver medal from the African Championships in Algeria.
“The competition was tough,” said the wrestler who competes in the 97kg category when asked about his exploits in Algeria.
Erasmus is experienced when it comes to competing internationally as he has previously won a continental title and has been victorious at the Commonwealth Games.
The wrestler is a man of few words and when asked about his chances at the Olympic qualifiers his reply is simply “if it’s God’s will”.
The local man missed out on qualifying for the global showpiece four years ago and he is looking to get it right this time around.
Erasmus was not the only wrestler from Brakpan who took part in the African Championships. Jacques Kriel (120kg) was also in Algeria.
He came fourth in his category.
READ: Brakpan wrestlers take on Africa’s best
This was Kriel’s first continental competition as a senior wrestler.
“It was tough. It’s a lot different to juniors or cadets,” he said.
“It’s much harder. The guys were a lot heavier and I think I was a bit underweight for the weight class.”
He sees the tournament as a learning curve.
“I’m not too disappointed, but I know I could have gone one place better,” said Kriel.
At age 20, Kriel believes that he can develop with the hope of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics.
Another Brakpan star who took part in Algeria was junior Fernando Booysen. The 57kg wrestler has big dreams.
“I need to work a little bit on my technique, harder on my strength training and put a little bit extra weights on when I train,” said the youngster.
Booysen knows that he still has time to develop as he can compete as junior for two more years.
“I would like to get a scholarship anywhere overseas because that would be much better exposure for wrestling than here in South Africa,” he said.
At age 17, he still has time to grow and he is eyeing the 2028 Olympics as the games he would like to compete in.
The wrestlers time in Algeria was helped by having familiar faces travelling with them. Erasmus’ father, Rassie, is the South African team’s head coach, while Booysen had his father, Dirk, as the team manager.
“I know my son works hard and he’ll qualify for the Olympics,” said the coach.
“He can beat all of them but the fitness was not there (in Algeria).”
READ: Erasmus is bringing Commonwealth gold back to Brakpan
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