Hurdles champion back in Pretoria with new perspective
After her fleeting and unsuccessful stay in America, one of South Africa's most promising young athletes returned to Pretoria with a new perspective and she cannot wait to compete locally again.
So far, 2021 has been an eventful year for the former African youth 100m-hurdles champion, Kayla van den Bergh, despite her not having raced yet.
The Tuks athlete survived Covid and learned that the grass is not always greener on the other side. In January, Van den Bergh left to study and train at the University of North Colorado.
Things did not work out as she had hoped. Sprinters and cold weather don’t ever really gel. According to her, when she arrived, the temperature was close to minus 20 degrees. It was not her only concern. Van den Bergh found it challenging to adapt to the American way of training. To her, it felt insouciant.
The Tuks athlete has definite goals. She wants to compete at the World Student Games as well as the World Junior Championships. To her, it means putting in the long hard hours. It felt like she was not doing so.
It, however, turned out to be the least of her concerns. Van den Bergh contracted the Covid-virus while in the USA. She really got sick.
“I battled to breathe. At one stage, I could hardly get out of bed to shower. My biggest fear was that I would need to go to the hospital. I did not want to be on a ventilator as I have heard there is a risk of damaging once lungs. It is something no athlete can afford. Being all on your own in a little room far from family and friends drained me emotionally,” she explained.
Van den Bergh is relieved to be back in South Africa and to have made a full recovery. According to her, people must realise that Covid Pandemic is real.
“Believe me, you don’t want to get sick,” she warned.
Photo: Reg Caldecott
Van den Bergh is not sure as to when she will start racing. She recently injured her hamstring. Allthough it does not seem serious, she is not going to risk aggravating her injury.
The 19-year old is looking forward to a race against Tuks’s Rikenette Steenkamp, South Africa’s 100m-hurdles record and national indoors 60m-hurdles record holder for the first time.
“Rikenette has been my role model from when I was small. To me, a real champion is someone who remains humble no matter what their achievements might be. Rikenette is like that. She will never shy away from talking to young athletes giving them advice, and she never quits. I am striving to be the same.”
Van den Bergh relishes a good duel on the track.
“Every race has its own challenges. That is what makes athletics exciting. I don’t mind losing as long as you learn from your mistakes. The goal should always to be better.”
The Tuks athlete’s CV is already impressive. She has won the 100m-hurdles at the 2018 African Youth Games (under-18), and in 2019 she won gold at the African Youth Championships. She was fifth during the 2018 Youth Olympics. Van den Bergh is also a former double South African youth champion. For now, her best time is 13.84s, but she believes she is capable of being faster.
Speed seems to be a family thing. When her dad, Riaan, played fullback for the Bulls, he was no slouch when he had the ball in hand. Mom, Yvonne, was a 400m-hurdler in her younger days, while her younger brother, Christiaan, is already also a champion hurdler.
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