“I can achieve anything I want to achieve by the grace of Jesus Christ.” These are words of gold-medal winner, Nolwazi Mashaba.

This young star is naturally competitive and hates losing.

Last year she placed 18th in the world for u/18 triple jump and was named LHS Sportswoman of the Year. She also broke a record at the recent Interhigh.

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According to her coach, Johann Kruger, she managed to do something very rare. She recently won two gold medals at the ASA Youth And Junior Championships in Paarl.

“It is rare in both the men’s and the women’s events that the same athlete wins both the long and the triple jump. Such an athlete can then be called a combination jumper, of which the best world-class example would be Larry Myrics of the United States.

“She is the only athlete that we are aware of who took double gold in the field events, and, as far as our research shows, it must have been a very long time ago in SA that any woman won both of the horizontal jumps at national level. In fact we cannot trace who or when any other female athlete achieved this specific double at the same event,” he explained.

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Her role models are world-class athletes like Caterine Ibarguen and Jackie Joyner Kersee. Nolwazi prepares for her competitions with her coach, who has been coaching her since she arrived at LHS in 2015.

“We prepare Nolwazi very meticulously during pre-season, starting in August/September every year. She also does a regular heavy gym programme which was designed for strength and spring development.

During competition season, she gradually decreases the workload during practice, but the sessions become much more intensive. She is thus tapered specifically for big competitions like nationals over a period of approximately 19 to 21 days, depending on time available.

Her regular high-intensity training during this period can last anything from one and a half to two and a half hours every day, if sufficient rest periods are applied correctly,” he explained.

“She eats a very specific, high-energy diet which consists of lots of fruits, vegetables, high carbohydrate loading (pastas), only olive oil, no fat and no sugar.

Mostly chicken and very lean beef serve as the protein base. We have experimented with her diet over a long period of time until we found the one that works for her,” he said.

She is currently preparing for her competition at the CAA All Africa Youth and Juniors in Ivory Coast.

When asked to describe Nolwazi her coach said, “She is just another ordinary girl from a very poor background who dreams of one day making it to the top of the world. The only difference is, she is prepared to work for it and she believes in the power of the Almighty.”