Recovering from a knee injury the last two years, this Olympian sprinter was all set to defend his title at the Tokyo 2020 Games. In lockdown in South Africa, the ardent Mo Salah and Liverpool fan shares how he has been building his endurance and finding positivity in the chaos.



Nothing can get a good sportsman down.



Ask Cape Town-born Wayde van Niekerk, who made history at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a record-breaking performance as a track and field athlete.



In a way, the five-week government-imposed lockdown in South Africa was an extension of Van Niekerk’s own time away from the limelight, when he was already used to living and training indoors, consistently building on his physical and mental endurance.



The serious knee injury in 2017 that kept him away from the track had meant “a hibernation” of a different kind when he was steering himself for the next big competition returning to the field again in 2020.&nbsp;&nbsp;



This was also going to be the year he was going to defend his 400m world record at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.



“I came out of an injury, and it led to me entering a hibernation period of my life where a lot happened, internally, indoors, away from the TV screens,” says Van Niekerk on a Zoom interview with FORBES AFRICA from his home in Bloemfontein in South Africa’s Free State province, a day after the country lifted the lockdown with Level 4 restrictions.



“As this year started, I had shifted my mentality to becoming an athlete again, and getting ready for the next major competition, and then Covid-19 started, and that led to me taking a step back and shift back to the hibernation stage of training and strengthening myself.



“I am blessed and privileged to have equipment around me and a gym setup at home. So I was well-prepared before even the pandemic… but you do miss the track but this pandemic is something we all have to face.”



The 28-year-old, who showed promise from an early age, and who was also listed as one of FORBES AFRICA’s 30 Under 30 achievers in 2019, says he has been using the time to find peace in chaos.



“What I have learned is to try and find that peace, that positivity and calm in this storm. It’s a mentality shift that I had to meditate on, that I build a positive foundation, that I reap every strength and positivity invested in me, that once I come out of the injury, I &nbsp;come out stronger. Now, I am making sure my physical and mental strength can complement one another.”



With the Tokyo 2020 Games now postponed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, did it give him the gift of time?



“Not really. Every time is a blessing,” says Van Niekerk. “I prepared myself for that this year, but reality is what it is. And we can’t be dwelling on the losses… we can either see it as time lost or there is a goal I have set for myself, the way I am going to get it is not important. It doesn’t matter the platform it happens on, as long as it happens. I have been investing my time into it.”



From 200m events as a junior athlete, to a 400m specialist later in life, Van Niekerk is clearly among the most versatile sprinters in the history of the sport.



You can sense it’s no fake modesty when he tells you that the time away from the track has also made him want to do more for the less fortunate around him. The attention is not on himself.



“I find it difficult to focus on just me… I am very passionate about helping those around me. I am not a fan of wanting to do things that become a media event,” he says simply.



“We are going through this period to cleanse and strengthen ourselves&#8230; Forget about who you are, and see whose lives you can make easier. The people who are struggling now are the people who will give you the biggest smile and who will give you the confidence. And now it’s time for us as sports people and as human beings to find ways to consider those around us who are less fortunate and not as blessed as we are.”



The transition from indoor fitness to outdoor training, once the lockdown regulations are fully lifted, is not going to be an easy one.



“There are a lot of technical things to it in terms of getting 100% race-fit for an international stage and trying to do some competitions; to just shake off that rust and to get the legs going and the body moving and the blood flowing again. There is a massive difference between a gym workout and being a track athlete. There will be a whole few months before we get to be at the level and shape where we can improve ourselves as athletes,” he says.



The ardent Mo Salah and Liverpool fan has also been engaging with his network of sports comrades around the world. Jamaican former sprinter Usain Bolt is a good friend. You ask if he has been in touch.



“I communicate with most, but Usain is more about the banter. He’s always teasing me about the Premier League not going to finish, so they keep trying to tap into that nerve of mine as I am a passionate Liverpool supporter. So I am trying not to entertain that side of them,” laughs Van Niekerk.



As a child, Van Niekerk dreamed of becoming the fastest man in the world. It’s a dream that still keeps the speedster going.



“It is what I have been investing in ever since I was young, and what I want to achieve. With the barriers I broke came confidence, and why not believe in what I can achieve? I am invested 110% to want to improve the 100m, 200m and up to 400m, and I am more hungry and determined than ever before!”

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Wayde van Niekerk: ‘Lockdown Meant Shifting Back To Hibernation To Train And Strengthen Myself’

From cheers on the track and field to cheers of a different
kind, Jamaican sprinting champion Usain Bolt was in South Africa recently to
launch his signature champagne.



Widely considered the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, the
nine-time Olympic gold medalist who has broken records, is now breaking new
ground in the business world.



He was in South Africa in January to launch a limited
edition champagne in collaboration with champagne producer G.H. Mumm.



Having graced some of the world’s biggest Olympic stadiums,
the retired Jamaican sprinter was at the swanky The Maslow hotel in
Johannesburg, promoting the pink bubbly as it poured endlessly into fluted
glasses. 



As the $45 Mumm Olympe Rosé bottle was being passed around,
all attention was on the world champion.&nbsp;




“In Jamaica, we do this naturally; we mix cognac with
champagne, and it’s something I enjoy. So when we sat down in the first meeting
and we were trying to figure out what direction we wanted to go with for the bottle
and with the drink, I mentioned it and asked ‘is it possible?’ and they said
‘yes’. So for me, that was something I was happy about. When you taste it,
you’ll taste the cognac and together it’s very nice, trust me,” Bolt tells
FORBES AFRICA, aptly marketing his product.



The A-list sports star poses with two bottles, symbolic of
the two years it took to create what he calls a premium drink. 



G. H. Mumm’s Senior Global Brand Manager, Etienne Cassuto,
says collaborations of this magnitude have to be a reflection of authenticity
and teamwork. 



“This is not something we created and said ‘great, put your
name on it, sign it and we sell it’; he created this wine with us and that is
why it is something that is truly collaborative and that is where some brands
get it wrong,” he says.&nbsp; 



“It took a long time to really get to know Usain Bolt&#8230; as
an athlete, as someone who has broken records and who has surpassed everything
in life to get to where he is today. This desire to partner with Usain Bolt,
who is now a retired athlete but still pushing the limit to what he can achieve
and really daring himself to go beyond to find his next victory… that is why
since 2016, we have been collaborating to try and understand how we can build
something in common.”



Bolt, who retired from athletics in 2017, has since pursued
a career in football; he decided to hang up his boots in 2018. 



His short-lived football career saw him play for Central
Coast Mariners, and train in South Africa with Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. 



The Olympic sprint champion says athletes should focus on
building a brand beyond the track.



“In sports, I was always trying to be the best and do things
that have never been done before, it is the same thing in business. You have to
find things that no one has done before… As athletes, you should focus on
trying to build your brand. Try to work hard and try to develop a personality. 



“I think I get sponsorships because I have a personality. I
am different, and I stand out. Develop a personality, a brand that people know,
this is Bolt, this is Simbine, this is Wayde. I always tell Wayde ‘it is good
to be fast and to be great, but if you want to build your brand you have to
show your personality’. People will want you to be a part of their brand’,” he
tells us. 



Akani Simbine and Wayde van Niekerk are South African
athletes.



&nbsp;And Bolt loves South
Africa. “When they called and told me we are launching in South Africa, I was
happy. Last year, I had so much fun. The energy was different. It felt like
home because this is the only place I have been to that I have danced so much.
In Jamaica, we dance a lot, but in Africa, you guys dance. A lot!” he says
joyfully. 



The whole vibe is that of celebration.



“Africa is an exciting market for champagne. African
consumers want more premium goods; they want to really discover new things, new
products, new categories and they want to spend a little more to discover
high-quality products, whether it is luxury or premium goods,” adds Cassuto.



South Africa’s affluent market is no different, and Bolt
attests to that – the man fast on the track and faster with his soundbites.

Maison Mumm Launches Unprecedented Zero Gravity Bottle

The Bolt And The Beautiful

Do you remember the second man to land on the moon? How about the sprinter who was second behind Usain Bolt at the London 2012 Olympics? That’s what I thought. So last year when Christopher Froome came second behind Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France, the world took little notice. This year it all changed when he rode into the history books and became the first African-born cyclist to win the prestigious race in 110 years.
Place yourself on the back of Froome’s bike for a second. It’s the last stretch of one of the toughest cycling races in the world. You’re hemmed in by thousands of cheering fans who watch in awe as you zoom past. Any slight mistake can cost you the race. With one last push, you cross the finish line and are engulfed by the crowd. In the midst of the mobbish crowd you look up and see two familiar faces, fiancé Michelle Cound and former schoolmate Matthew Beckett.
“We were standing in the grandstand waiting for the finish just counting down to the three km mark. The entire last day is a procession and you’re never going to lose the tour on the last day… but until he passes the three km mark you can’t actually breathe that last sigh of relief…  [When he crossed the finish line] I gave him a big hug and had a bit of a cry,” says Beckett with tears in his eyes.
Since the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, which saw him stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life, the controls on the sport have tightened. These days riders carry blood passports and are required to log onto an internet site and state where they are for an hour every day. This allows for random doping tests. If a cyclist misses three tests they are banned from racing for two years. In the 23 days of the tour, Froome was tested 27 times and passed.
It was a cycling career born on the hard roads of Nairobi, Kenya, where a young Froome peddled for fun. Little did he know then that it would lead him to Paris.
Froome left Nairobi at the age of 14 when his parents relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa. He completed high school at the elite St Johns College, where he accelerated his passion for cycling by joining the schools club.  Alan Lion-Cachet, the school’s sports director, remembers Froome as a humble pupil who always had a smile on his face.
“He was spinning in the gym one day and some of his mates came into the gym, showered him with leaves and water, as if egging him on in the Tour de France, and chanted inspirational cries of ‘Go Chris go! You’re leading the TDF [Tour de France],” says Lion-Cachet.
Since 2008, thanks to his British passport, Froome has ridden under British license. In 2010, he joined Team Sky and has become one of their key riders. But things haven’t always been easy.
In 2006, twenty-year-old Froome rode for Kenya at the Road World Championships in Salzburg, Austria.
“He paid for himself to go. He was his own mechanic, own team manager, he was his own everything…” says Beckett.
Minutes into the race Froome crashed into an official, sending both men flying. He got back up, finished the race and learnt one of the greatest lessons in life: If first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and get back on your bike.
In seven years, life has changed beyond recognition. Now he has a manager, support team and his latest win earned him €450,000 ($596,000) and a brand new Jaguar V6 F-Type, worth £67,000 ($103,000).
Froome dedicated his win to his late mother, Jane, who died from cancer in 2008.
In an interview in Britain’s Daily Mail Froome said he hopes his win will inspire.
“I hope it sends a message to a lot of young Africans to inspire them to achieve their dreams even though it may seem very far away. If they want something badly enough then they can find a way to make it happen, as I did,” says Froome.
No one can say what went through Froome’s mind as he crossed the finish line in Paris. Though, you can be sure that film makers have it in mind. Imagine, on a dusty Kenyan road, a young boy peddles his bike, with a small sticker that reads Made in Britain. There is a South African flag on his left handle and a Kenyan flag on his right handle. As he stares out into the warm sunset he says: “One day I’m going to win the Tour de France”. Indeed, I feel an advertisement is in the air.

Tag: Usain Bolt

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Wayde van Niekerk: ‘Lockdown Meant Shifting Back To Hibernation To Train And Strengthen Myself’

The Bolt And The Beautiful

Kenyan-Born South African-Raised British Claimed