LJ van Zyl call it a day after 17 years
One of Pretoria’s favourite sportsmen, athlete LJ van Zyl, has decided to put his spikes away for good.
The South African 400m-hurdles record holder, LJ van Zyl, has decided to call it a day after a long and very successful career.
This brings an athletics career to an end that spanned nearly 17 years and included winning three Commonwealth Games medals and two World Championships medals.
“I had a wonderful career. There were magic moments on the track. For me, athletics has always been about more than just winning and clocking fast times. Through my travels from race to race, I got to see the world and meet wonderful people. Some of them will be friends for life,” said Van Zyl after his announcement.
According to Van Zyl the main reason he decided to retire is that the ‘butterflies’ are gone.
“I always said to myself that I would never just race for the sake of racing. Don’t get me wrong I am still passionate about athletics, especially the 400m-hurdles. But the magic is gone,” he explained.
He also added that the other reason why he wanted to retire was that his second son will be born in June. He is married to Irvette (Van Blerk), who is also an international athlete.
Not racing does not mean that Van Zyl is finished with athletics. If he has his way he will be involved for years to come. He is looking forward to the new challenges he has set himself.
“I honestly feel that I can be an excellent mentor to young athletes and not necessary only track and field athletes. One of the most important things the youngsters should realise that it is nice to be fast and be a champion but it is not going to last forever. If you’re lucky you might be competitive for five to 10 years. The question young athletes need to ask themselves is what they are going to do when they retire. Throughout my athletic career, I was studying. I am currently busy with my master’s degree. I think every athlete should think about studying,” Van Zyl said.
In 17 years there were many highlights but Van Zyl considering his South African record-breaking attempt in 2011 in Pretoria as his biggest highlight. He clocked 47.66s.
In his career Van Zyl managed to clock an astonishing 68 sub 49 seconds races in the 400m-hurdles. He has dipped under 48 seconds on six occasions. In 2002 he was the World Junior Champion; in 2006 he won a gold medal at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and helped the SA 4x400m-relay to win silver; in 2010 he won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games; in 2011 in Daegu he won a bronze medal at the World Championships and again helped the SA 4x400m-relay to win a silver medal.
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