TuksAthletics beefed up their sprinting talent with the signing of the 18-year-old Eckhardt Potgieter. Earlier this year during the Gauteng North Championships at Tuks the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool athlete ran a time of 10.29s in the 100 metres and 20.58s seconds in the 200 metres. His heroics compares favourably to the times the South African sprint legends Akani Simbine and Wayde van Niekerk ran when they were the same age. At 18 Simbine clocked 10.57s in the 100 metres and 21.27s over 200 metres while Van Niekerk ran 10.58s and 21.02s. ” I have no doubt that Potgieter would have been even faster if it were not for the national lockdown. He is a real talent. Our challenge at Tuks is to make sure he is adequately managed over the next few years,” said Danie Cornelius, manager of TuksAthletics. According to Cornelius, the most exciting thing about Potgieter is his all-round abilities. He has a good start, is fast around the bend and can keep his top-end speed. It makes him an asset for any 4x100m relay team. The World Athletics Junior World Championships has been postponed to 22 August next year. It is still going to be held in Kenya. Cornelius predicts that Potgieter has what it takes to contest the final in both sprints. On a good day, he could even win a medal. Potgieter is not the only exciting young prospect Tuks signed for next year. The 18-year-old Kirsti Bell (Hoërskool Menlopark), who last year won the South African senior title in the 3000m-steeplechase is also going to don the coveted striped vest in 2021, while there is a real chance that the Youth Olympian, Carmie Prinsloo (Hoërskool Montana), will also be competing for Tuks next year. She is a world-class middle-distance athlete.  

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