With his dreadlocks and friendly demeanour, Tshepang Makhethe (20) is breathing a breath of fresh air into the sport of hammer throw in South Africa.

This NWU-Puk student has hammered his authority this year with impressive throws which  have gained him the prestigious 2016 PukSport Sportsman of the Year award as well as national and international recognition in his young career thus far.

‘It is a surreal feeling to win this award in my first year at the University. It definitely shows that all the hard work is paying off. It is just amazing,’ said the young athlete from Sasolburg.

Under Basie Koen’s coaching, Makhethe has taken it to another level this year with some impressive results.Makhethe is the SA u.23 champion as well as the African champion with a distance of 69.1 metres. He also took silver at the SA Championships among other great achievements.

It all started in Beijing

Makhethe’s first foray into the sport came in 2008, when he saw Vadim Devyatovskiy on television in the hammer throw at the Beijing Olympic Games.  ‘I remember seeing hammer throw at Sasolburg HTS where I went to school and then giving it a shot  after I saw it on TV previously. Johan Harmse coached me for six months and, from there on, I was introduced to Basie Koen through my current training partner, Stefanie Greyling. The rest is history.’

This was a partnership that was meant to be and Makhethe showcased this at his first SA Championships, where he took first place by a margin of 10 metres. ‘In 2013, we went to the World Youth Championships, taking the sixth place in the final. That made me the second South African hammer throw athlete to compete. It has been a steady climb since then. It is a progressive game where you hit your peak in hammer throw from age 28 and upwards,’ said Makhethe whose personal best is 70.26 metres with the 7-kilogramme hammer.

The technique is the challenge

‘You can never say that you have mastered the techniques in hammer throw. I love the challenge of improving my technique. The training is the most fun when working on your technique and going on a steady climb to better yourself.’

Makhethe’s technique focuses on speed with his four-turn technique, but he first had to transition from the three-turn technique that he had previously used. ‘I remember when I started doing four turns, I fell so many times that I broke a  piece of my elbow. After coming back in three weeks, I just went straight into perfecting the four-turn technique,’ he explained.

‘Spirituality plays a big role in my whole living and it has been an exciting journey finding myself. Its role in sport has also helped me to stay focused and calm,’ he said.

Life at the Puk

According to Makhethe, his move to Potch from Sasolburg, where his training group is, has been beneficial as he has had the opportunity to see the best international athletes in action, first hand.

‘The facilities like the HPI here at the Puk are amazing. It is also fantastic to be able to train and get insight from some of the world’s best athletes when they train here in summer,’ stated Makhethe, who is currently doing a diploma in Sports Science at NWU Pukke.

He believes that ‘You are what you feed yourself’ and this year has seen him hunger for success like never before with hard work both in and off season.

Expect 2017 to be another stellar year for Makhethe who is always working towards the next step of the ladder on his steady climb to success.

Favourites with Tshepang Makhethe:

Food: Spaghetti and tuna

Music: Reggae. Roots reggae with a lyrical message on life.

Season: Summer

Movies: Drama, but recently I’ve gotten into horror movies

Favourite actor: Channing Tatum

Five people you would like to have dinner with: Denzel Washington, I Wayne, Fikile Mbalula, Vadim Devyatovskiy and Lauryn Hill.