Van Zyl faster each time he races
LJ van Zyl is convinced that he is planning his races much smarter this year in advance to the Olympic Games than in the past.
The South African Champion, LJ van Zyl (Tuks/HPC), is a man on a mission. A quick glance at his results in the 400-hurdles for the season will confirm this.
Since the South African Championships in Stellenbosch Van Zyl set a faster time every time he raced. He won the national title in a time of 49.34s; in Shanghai his time was 49.13s and in Ostrava he won in 48.67s, which is his fastest time in five years. Weather permitting, he will probably continue this upward trajectory in the 400-hurdles when he lines up to compete in the Diamond League Meeting in Stockholm this long weekend.
One of the reasons why Van Zyl is able to improve consistently on his times this season is the fact that he is so focused. In previous years he used to race internationally as often as he could, but this year he is like a ‘sniper’ who chooses his races very carefully. In other words he is not racing merely for the sake of racing.
“I see this season as all about setting myself small goals which I then try to achieve. Every time I tick off a goal I set myself a new challenge. My main goal for the season is to qualify for the Olympic final in Rio, and everybody knows that anything can happen in a final,” the Tuks/HPC athlete said.
If everything goes according to plan, it will be only Van Zyl’s 10th race of the season by the time he lines up for the semi-finals at the Games.
As far as this weekend is concerned it is interesting to note that Van Zyl will go into the race with the fastest time for the season. Michael Tinsley (USA) will be the second fastest with a time of 48.74s and Kerron Clement (USA) the third fastest with a time of 48.87s. Last year’s world champion, Nicholas Bett (Kenya),’s best time so far this season is 49.31s.
Being a seasoned campaigner, Van Zyl is not overly worried about what other athletes do or don’t do. He describes the 400-hurdles as the great leveller in athletics.
“There is never a time when you can relax and say that you have truly mastered running the 400-hurdles. I will put money on it that any athlete who thinks so will be humbled the next time he races. You have to keep on putting in the long hard hours and even then there are no guarantees. That is why I don’t want to make any predictions about what might or might not happen, but I know it will be an interesting race. My training has been going well.”
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