The international athletics community might not really know who Jovan van Vuuren is, but as said, watch this space. One big jump in the next few weeks can change everything.

The Tuks athlete certainly is in good form at the moment. During last week’s first Grand Prix meeting in Bloemfontein, he won the long jump with an 8.14m effort. Two weeks ago, during the Gauteng North Championships, he won the title, jumping 8.16m. His previous personal best was 8.10m (2019). Van Vuuren is now ranked as one of the seventh-best long jumpers on South Africa’s all-time list.

And he is not done yet. Van Vuuren is confident of performing better.

“I know I have not yet come close to executing the perfect jump. I would rate my performance at the AGN champs a 6 out of 10 effort. Last week’s was 5 out 10. It was ‘lazy’ jumps. I know I made mistakes that cost me extra centimetres.

At least he is consistent. Van Vuuren emphasized that he and his my coach, Neil Cornelius,  have worked hard on improving his big match temperament during the off-season.

“Often during practice, Neil would create a scenario where I needed to achieve a specific goal. The idea is to get me used to performing at my best when pressured,” he explained.

This method is paying dividends. In Bloemfontein his body felt dead.

“I could not get going. It did not help that my nerves were also shot. I had a stern talk to myself. Reminding myself that I had spent many hours in the car to drive to Bloemfontein to compete and that it would be a shame if it ended up being time wasted. Then my ‘BMT’ kicked in,” he commented.

According to Van Vuuren, 2021 was not a good year. He was diagnosed as having two fractures in his pelvis. So, he had to undergo serious rehabilitation, but that was not the worst of it.

“My biggest disappointment was not competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Emotionally it took its toll. I was truly down and out. There was a stage where I was asking myself why I was putting in all the long hard hours if I couldn’t achieve what I had set out to do,” he said.

But as it is said, sometimes a setback can be good. According to Van Vuuren, he is certainly more motivated.

“I want to execute that perfect jump that would establish me as one of the long jumping’s greats. I know it is not impossible,” he remarked.

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