Kusche could play part in the revival of SA middle distance athletics
The young middle distance runner from Pretoria, George Kusche, is about to break through on the international stage.
The 19 year upcoming local star from Tuks, George Kusche, could just be the athlete to start the revival of South African middle distance athletics.
South Africa used to have a proud tradition in men’s middle distance running winning no less than 11 medals between 1992 and 2013 at the Olympic Games and World Championships but for the last four years there were no real highlights. It will be a shame if the legacy of the likes of Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, Hezekiel Sepeng, Johan Botha and Johan Cronjé just fades away.
Botha, a two time world indoors medallist, is confident that it won’t happen. He backs Kusche as one of the athletes who has what it takes to become a world beater. The Tuks/HPC athlete certainly has got the credentials. At the South African Junior Championships he won the 800m as well as the 1 500m. It is not a feat accomplished often.
So far this season Kusche has already improved his time in the 1 500m by 12 seconds. At the moment his personal best is 3:41.18 however he is confident that is capable of running even faster times.
He might just do so on Saturday when he competes in Belgium. The legendary middle distance coach, JP van der Merwe, paid Kusche a huge compliment by comparing his attitude to racing to that of a snarling “dog” who loves challenging his rivals to bring it on.
Kusche ascribed his drastic improvement in the 1 500m to having done more distance work this season as well as dropping a kilogram in weight.
“It may not sound like much, but in racing one kilogram less can make a huge difference,” explains Kusche for whom it makes sense to try and be competitive in the 800m as well as the 1 500m.
“It is what Seb Coe and Steve Ovett did when they were at their prime. I set myself the goal to emulate them. Personally I am of the opinion that you cannot be competitive in the 1 500 metres if you are not capable of running a fast 800 metres as well. Most of the top international 1 500m metre athletes will make a clean sweep if they get to race the 800 metres in South Africa,” said the young athlete.
Botha who coaches Kusche agrees.
“Just look at the times myself, Hezekiel and Mbulaeni ran when we were at our prime. My best time for the 800m was 1:43.91 and in the 1 500m it was 3:36.30; Sepeng’s times was 1:42.69 and 3:38.24; and Mbulaeni ran 1:42.86 and 3:38.55,” Botha emphasized.
Kusche’s best time in the 800m is 1:47.40 but Botha is of the opinion that he will definitely improve on it in the next four weeks when he competes internationally.
“George will compete in two 800 metre races and two 1 500 metres races. I am confident that he will be able to dip under 1:46.00 in the 800 and under 3:40.00 in the 1 500 if he is really challenged,” Botha concluded.
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