Old man of SA Athletics still dreams of Olympic participation
Although he is sometimes referred to as the "old man" of South African athletics, Ruan de Vries is still positive about his career and his dream of participating in the Olympic Games is not dead yet.
It had been nearly four months since they were able to do so, but some of the top local athletes are very excited these days to be able to practice on the track again.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, most of them tried to keep fit by sprinting up and down streets. It turned out to be a quite jarring experience for some, as track and field athletes are not supposed to be running on tar roads.
Now they are at long last able to do what they love, which is to jump, hurdle, sprint or throw on a synthetic track again.
One of them is Ruan de Vries, sometimes referred to as the “old man” of South African athletics.
De Vries, who turned 34 in February, is possible one of South Africa’s oldest active track and field athletes. This past season was the 17th year that he competes as a senior in the 110m-hurdles. Last year the Tuks hurdler got to complete his “hat trick” by competing at the World Championships in Doha. He has also done so as a youth and junior athlete.
It would not have been a surprise if De Vries decided to put his spikes away for good during the pandemic, but it is not going to happen. It is a ‘stirring’ that is making him continue.
“There is this little voice that tells me I should not quit. I still got to race that one perfect race. For me, perfect does not necessarily equate to fast times. It is about the flawless execution of my technique,” he explained his continued participation.
De Vries said that last season he managed to, for the first time in his career, ran four races without once touching a hurdle.
“I ended up running the two fastest times of my career – 13.42s and 13.45s. Who knows what I am capable of the next time my execution is without fault? Unfortunately, the wind from behind was 0.1m/s to fast when running 13.42s,” he remarked.
The Tuks hurdler’s time of 13.45s, however, ranks him as one of the fourth fastest 110m-hurdlers in the history of South African athletics. Only Antonio Alkana (13.11s in 2017), Lehann Fourie (13.24s in 2012) and Shaun Bownes (13.26s in 2002) are quicker.
Seventeen years is a long time to be hurdling but not for De Vries.
‘I might not have made money from running, but I have no regrets. I have been privileged to go to more than 40 countries. In doing so, I gained invaluable life experience. You can’t buy that,” he said.
One of the few things missing from his CV is getting to compete at the Olympic Games. De Vries knows it is going to be tough to qualify, but he owes it to himself to give it go. He does not see 34 years as a handicap. It is only two numbers in his ID document.
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