Munyai to race against indoor world champion in Manchester
Clarence Munayi is still at school but he will get the opportunity to run against some of the best in the world in the coming European season.
Clarence Munayi (TuksSport High School), will get to live his dream on Friday when he will race against Trayon Bromell (USA) over 150m.
The race will take place at Great City Games in Manchester.
Bromell (21) burst onto the senior scene in 2015 with a third place finish in the IAAF World Championships in Beijing.
He was behind Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin with a time of 9,92 seconds. His time of 9,84 seconds, achieved in the USA team trials, made him the joint tenth fastest man in history.
He became the first junior to break the 10 second barrier in 2014 when he ran 9,97 seconds at the NCAA men’s outdoor track and field championships.
Bromell got off to a flying start earlier this season when he won the 60m in the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon.
“As far as I am concerned, Trayon has the ability to become the next real deal in international sprinting. He is a definite role model for me and it still seems unrealistic that I will be racing against him. I hope it will be an awesome race,” said Munayi (18), who has shown signs that he himself could develop into a world-class sprinter.
Under the guidance of Hennie Kriel (coach at Tuks/HPC), Munyai has won the SA junior as well as senior titles in the 200m.
He has qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio on two occasions by running times of 20,36 seconds. He has also improved his best time in the 100m to 10,28 seconds.
In spite of Munayi’s success, Kriel is realistic about the challenges that await them.
“A study of the IAAF’s all-time list of fastest junior sprinters (under 20) does not make for good reading. Most of the athletes never had any effect as senior sprinters. They disappeared from the scene without ever fulfilling their potential,” said Kriel.
“Our main challenge at the moment is to give Clarence the necessary guidance and support to help him bridge the gap between excelling at junior level and being equally successful at senior level,” he said.
His advice to Munayi for Friday’s big race is to enjoy the moment and to learn as much as he can from racing against the best.
Munyai said he was grateful his coach had the vision to let him run against senior athletes this season.
“It has toughened me up mentally. I am no longer intimidated when I compete against older athletes because I realise they are also just human and have the same anxieties and expectations that I have as a youngster,” said Munyai.
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