Grant Shimmin athletics
When one considers the man behind the newest national record in South African athletics, Burger Lambrechts, the clich “it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy” just seems to slip out. Not that one’s first sight of this bull of a man he was a Craven Week lock at school who tips the scales at about the 145kg mark, would necessarily conjure up thoughts of nice guys, but the 27-year-old from Pretoria is a man anyone would struggle not to like, unless you happen to be one of his opponents in a shot-put competition. A week ago in Port Elizabeth, Lambrechts obliterated Jan Pienaar’s national mark of 20,60m by 30cm. It had been coming for a long time and if everything had gone to plan, it would have come in the final of the event at last year’s Olympics in Sydney. Unfortunately for Lambrechts, the big man wasn’t in the elite 12 who fought for places on the podium. His three qualifying attempts started with an effort beyond 20m, which would have qualified him for the final, but an infringement meant it was a “no-throw”. His other efforts fell short of what was needed and he was stranded outside the top dozen, watching as young team-mate Janus Robberts grabbed seventh place. It was a bitter blow for Lambrechts, twice a finalist at the world championships in 1997 and 1999 and the Commonwealth Games champion who’d started the year like a steam train, heaving the shot beyond 20m at meetings all over the country and seemingly setting himself up for a big charge in the Sydney final. Lambrechts’s year had been disrupted by a bout of encephalitis, though he would never use that as an excuse. What he will tell you is that shot-putters only reach their peak somewhere between 26 and 34, so he’s a long way from finished. In fact, as he demonstrated last week, he’s only just started. One thing the disappointment of Sydney will certainly have done is focused him on this year’s world championships in Canada, where a distance similar to the one he achieved at the first attempt in Port Elizabeth would almost certainly get him into the medal shake-up. There are some stepping stones along the way, starting on Friday in the last Absa Series meeting at Coetzenburg in Stellenbosch, where there’ll be a high level of expectancy that he can break 21m. Then there are the national championships in Durban, followed by a likely trip to the world indoor championships in Lisbon. But the real focus will be on Canada in August. Lambrechts also has the Engen Series, kicking off in Roodepoort on March 16, to focus on. All eyes will be on sprint sensation Ato Boldon at the last two meetings but another big South African, discus thrower Frantz Kruger, will also be closely watched. Kruger, who grabbed an Olympic bronze, has already shown he will be a class act on the world stage again this year. Already beyond 64m in the Absa Series, he’ll be facing the best in the form of Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania in March. Not since East German Jurgen Schult set his world mark of 74,08m in Neubrandenburg has there been a performer of Alekna’s calibre in the event and Kruger, his closest rival for much of last year, will get a good idea of what it will take to win gold in Canada.