Matie athlete Shaun de Jager's coach Suzanne Ferreira believes he will run the Olympic qualifying time in the 400m race at this weekend's SA Senior Athletics Championships.
"Our main goal is that Shaun qualify to participate at the Olympics in Rio in the 400m event. This means he must run the 400m in 45.5 seconds. Currently his personal best is 45.7s ," said Ferreira.
De Jager and Ferreira began working together in August 2014 after the sudden death of his previous coach Mario Smith.
"Shaun was busy with the rehabilitation process after a hip operation and we used the rest of 2014 and 2015 to focus on his rehabilitation and to lay the groundwork for 2016."
De Jager's focus on the ultimate goal immediately impressed Ferreira.
"Every time we had to decide whether he should participate in an event or not, it was important to him that it should help him get to Rio 2016. As an athlete, he is a student of his discipline. He analyses his races and is always very focused to achieve the intended goal. This makes it very easy to coach him. He slotted in with the group easily, and I enjoy his quiet yet strong contribution to the group. "
Other athletes in Ferreira's group include Arnu Fourie, Fanie van der Merwe and Ilse Hayes.
Ferreira went on to say: "As part of the rehabilitation process we did a lot of work in the gym, something he wasn't used to. I think that helped him to run his personal best times in the 100m and 200m."
Now the plan is to do the same in the 400m.
The South African Championships will be hosted at Coetzenburg on 15-16 April. The 400m for men is scheduled to take place on Saturday at 13:20.
Find the complete programme on www.bolandathletics.com. Tickets are R50 per person per day.
