Nel continues family tradition winning the 110m-hurdles during SA Champs
When Gauteng North's SW Nel was crowned the new South African champion over the 110m hurdles last week, he continued a family tradition.
It was a case of like father like son last week when SW Nel raced across the finish line to win the 110m hurdles during the South African Championships in Pietermaritzburg.
The Tuks athlete is not the first in the Nel family to be speedy over 10 hurdles. His dad, Wimpie, has done the same during the nineties. He was the South African 110-hurdles champion in 1992 and 1993 and simultaneously won two bronze medals at the African Championships. He is now coaching his son.
The younger Nel was excited to emulate his dad’s heroics, but according to him, he can’t claim it is mission accomplished.
“My dad has two titles to his name, while I have only got one. So, there is still a lot of hard work that awaits me over the next few years. But for now, it is special to have done what my dad has done.” said the 21-year-old.
Nel won in Pietermaritzburg in a time of 13.73 seconds. It is a 0.11-second improvement on his previous best time. He believes he can be even faster.
“My performance in the final was far from perfect. I have hit the first two hurdles, which nearly led to me taking a tumble. It slowed me down by a few hundredths of a second. The one thing I need to work on is to be stronger. If I do, I know I will be faster,” he explained.
With dad and son on the same track, there is bound to be conflict. Or, at times, even harsh words. This does not faze the younger Nel.
“Before a race, my dad would go out of his way to get me angry, and with good reason. The angrier I am when racing, the better I race. During training, it is a different story. Then, my dad is at pains to ensure I understand what he expects me to do. He reasons that racing will be easier if you can execute your technique flawlessly during training,” he remarked.
As any young athlete, Nel dreams of competing in the Olympic Games.
“Honestly, it will take a miracle for me to compete in Paris in July. The qualifying standard is 13.27s. I will be happy if I can get close to running 13.40s this season. If I do, I might qualify for the Olympic Games on the World Athletics ranking system. But for now, I am happy to compete at the African Championships in Cameroon in June,” he concluded.
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