Local athlete wants to make his big breakthrough this year
The young student from Pretoria who won the long jump at the USSA Championships last year with an attempt of over 8m, believes his big breakthrough in athletics could happen this season.
The young long jumper, Jovan van Vuuren from TuksAthletics, has good reason for wanting to go past the eight-metre barrier this season and it has not only to do with the Tokyo Olympic Games.
It is vital to prove to himself that he is not a so-called ‘one-hit wonder’. However, it is also quite a personal quest.
His good friend and former training partner, Hendrik Maartens, committed suicide two years ago. Ever since he has been going for that one big jump as a tribute to a friend lost.
At last year’s USSA Championships in Stellenbosch he felt for the first time that he got close to being on track. Van Vuuren won the long jump with a best attempt of 8.10m. It ranked him as one of South Africa’s ten all-time best long jumpers.
According to Van Vuuren, on the day it felt as if Maartens was with him, rooting for him to go big.
“Hendrik and I have been friends from when we were seven. We shared a passion for athletics. I still consider him to be one of South Africa’s best sprinters. In 2017 he clocked a time of 20.40s in the 200m. I used to joke with him saying that he is Africa’s fastest white sprinter. What I most admired about Hendrik was his passion and dedication. Whenever he stepped onto the track, he gave a 100%,” Van Vuuren explained.
The Tuks athlete has no doubt that he has got another eight metre plus jump waiting to happen. If he could have his way, he would love to do so during next month’s Varsity Athletics meeting, if it is still going to take place.
“My coach, Neil Cornelius, always emphasise the secret to a big jump is to be focussed on controlling the controllable. When you line up, it is only got to be you the two lines and the plank nothing else should matter,” said Van Vuuren
For him, long jumping is – and always was – a thrill.
“The moment you take off the adrenaline kicks in. For that few milliseconds, it feels like you flying. I don’t think people realise how far eight metres are. Roughly it means jumping more than two storeys only horizontally. I would guess in a way you can say we as athletes get addicted to what we do,” he said.
The Tuks athlete is realistic as to what it is going to take to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
“It is going to be tough. Theoretically, it means I got to beat three of the World’s best long jumpers – Luvo Manyonga, Ruswahl Samaai and Zarck Visser. I know I can do it. I only got to believe,” he remarked.
Van Vuuren credits his confidence to Cornelius who helped Manyonga to win a World Championship and silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. According to him, his coach has got a way to calm him and make him believe nothing is impossible.
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