Jovan van Vuuren made sure of qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games by jumping 8.30 metres yesterday during the Gauteng North Championships at Pilditch.
It is a massive personal best for the former South African long jump champion. The Tuks master’s student's previous best was 8.16 metres (2022).
"I told myself before the meeting that 60 seconds is all it will take to change my life forever. It has. I have not yet slept, and it is not only because my body is sore as hell. I am not complaining. Especially as 581 days ago, I was told that I would never be able to jump again," Van Vuuren said on Sunday.
"Obsessive as I am, I already had a look where I erred yesterday. My landing definitely could have been better. There is actually a lot I can improve in my technique. The one that excited me yesterday was my speed in my approach. I was able to carry it through into the jump.
"What is also exciting is that if I could jump 8.30 metres at the Paris Games, I would have a realistic chance to medal. In 2012 in London, Greg Rutherford (Britain) won gold with an 8.31 metre effort; 8.12 metres was good enough for bronze. In 2016 in Rio, Jeff Henderson (USA) won, jumping 8.38 metres; 8.29 metres was the bronze medal distance. Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece) won in 2021 in Tokyo, jumping 8.41 metres. 8.21 metres was good enough for bronze."
According to Van Vuuren, his competition did not start off well yesterday. His coach, Neil Cornelius, told him to take it easy.
"I took his words to heart. I only jumped 7.49 metres. So, before my next attempt, Neil told me to go for it, which I did. It was big. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up with the measurement. So, it did not count. That was good because I was genuinely stoked while running in for my third attempt. It was 8.23 metres. My fourth was the big one - 8.40 metres. I knew it the moment I landed.
"Getting the qualification for the Olympic Games out of the way feels like an enormous burden has been taken off my shoulders. The most important thing now is to stay injury-free, which means listening to my body. I will certainly, not as I have done in the past, compete in meeting after meeting."
The one thing unresolved is a waver Van Vuuren made with Cornelius.
"Neil was supposed to shave off all his hair when I qualified for the Games. But he has now upped the stakes. I now got to jump 8.60 metres. I told him he couldn't keep on shifting the boundaries. We are going to put it in a contract. If I should win a medal in Paris, he would be bald, and I would have no moustache. I am taking a shaver with me."
In March 2023, Van Vuuren was told by a doctor that the chances of him ever competing at the highest level were close to zero. His right hamstring tendon was on the verge of snapping. If it
did, he would have had to undergo an operation, and there were no guarantees. He could have ended up walking with a limp for the rest of his life.
The Tuks student refused to give up on his dreams. He only got the green light in October last year to train on the track again.
"To me, 2023 will always be the what-if year. I can't help but wonder what I could have achieved if I did not get injured. The one thing I now know about sports is that there is no tomorrow. That is why, in 2024, I will live the moment. I will give 100% to achieve every goal I set," said Van Vuuren, who won bronze during the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.