Rough diamond Llewellyn Herbert is determined to show who’s king of the one-lap hurdles
Martin Gillingham
Llewellyn Herbert may not have a career waiting for him in the diplomatic service when his hurdling legs give up on him, but in a country that in recent months has exported an entire production line of sporting losers, there’s something to be said for the Olympic bronze medallist’s no-nonsense approach.
“I don’t give a shit about anyone else,” is how Herbert responds to the suggestion that there exists a genuine pretender to his one-lap hurdling crown.
The man who would be king is Alwyn Myburgh and his head-to-head with Herbert this weekend is expected to be the highlight of the South African Championships in Durban. The pair have yet to meet in 2002 having carefully dodged one another in hurdles races held at four of the five Absa Series meetings. Myburgh won the first three his fastest time being in Bloemfontein on February 1 when he ran 48.99sec while Herbert made his seasonal reappearance at the event in Bellville two weeks ago when he ran 49,05sec. On paper, as they say, the pair are evenly matched.
At 21, Myburgh is three years younger than Herbert and this weekend will be wearing the same sky blue vest of Gauteng North. Myburgh is also tracing his senior rival’s steps so carefully that four years after Herbert won the World Student Games title Myburgh repeated the feat. But that’s just about where the similarities end. Myburgh is a textbook compiler’s dream on the track and softly spoken and modest off it. Herbert, on the other hand, is a rough diamond with more than a suggestion of the pugilist about him.
Herbert says: “I’m still the South African record holder, still the South African champion … I’m still the best. I’m not saying that the South African Championships don’t matter because they do, but what matters most to me is being the world number one at the end of the year and the Commonwealth champion.”
What Herbert is saying is that, in the greater scheme of things, the result of this weekend’s final isn’t terribly significant. He’s got a point. After all, it was Herbert who prevailed at the national championships 12 months ago only for Myburgh to go on to World Student Games glory later in the year. Herbert, meanwhile, got himself injured shortly afterwards and despite a desperate attempt to compete at the world championships ended up embarrassing himself on and off the track when he got to Edmonton. A wiser man might have steered clear of the Canada trip but not Herbert, who competed despite being a pale imitation of his normal self. He was eliminated in the first round.
Herbert then compounded his troubles by turning on a hapless television crew whose only crime was to prod a fluffy microphone under his nose in the stadium tunnel. Herbert was not amused and the TV men’s revenge was to broadcast samples of Herbert’s colourful, if limited, vocabulary to the masses on the evening news. It was a startling performance by Herbert but one that sparked a staggering over- reaction from, among others, the sports minister, whose public rebuke made front page headlines.
Herbert would have been foolish to allow such distractions to affect him. And he hasn’t. Looking ahead to the 2002 European season he’s more concerned with winning his first significant title in a career that has seen him win silver at the 1997 world championships and bronze at the Olympic Games three years later. But he knows that if he’s to do that he must smooth off some of the rough edges that make the aesthetic quality of his hurdling technique more Ronnie Corbett than Olga Korbut. As Herbert puts it: “I’m not perfect but I’m working on it.”
For the likes of Herbert as well as world high jump champion Hestrie Cloete and Olympic discus bronze medallist Frantz Kruger this weekend is more about going through the motions of confirming their selection for the Commonwealth Games which take place in Manchester towards the end of July.
It’s a rather more serious affair for South African athletics’s latest find, Morne Nagel. He was a regular winner on the European indoor circuit clocking a best of 6.48sec for the 60 metres which ranks him joint number one in the world. But he’s untried in recent times in top-flight competition over 100m his 10,16sec at a low-key meeting in Pretoria in January tops the national rankings and, because of the draconian selection policy laid down by the South African Commonwealth Games Association, will find it difficult to get selected for Manchester.
As things stand, their policy prevents ASA from selecting anyone for Manchester who isn’t ranked in their specialist event in the top three of the Commonwealth rankings. The only exceptions to this are the “previously disadvantaged” who receive special dispensation. But even they have to be in the top six in the rankings to get selected for the South African team.
The bad news for Nagel is that the men’s 100m is one of the strongest events in the Commonwealth with four of the world’s top seven sprinters from last year eligible for Manchester. All four broke 10 seconds in 2002. In practical terms, Nagel is likely to prove an exception to the rule. As reigning world silver medallists, the men’s 4x100m relay squad of which Nagel is a member, can expect to be selected. So, if only for that reason, Nagel can reasonably expect to get a run in the individual sprint as well.
ASA have switched the opening meeting of the Engen Series on April 5 from the Ruimsig stadium to Germiston. The reason for the switch is the Krugersdorp council’s demand for a stadium rental fee of R13 000. It’s common practice for cities to offer their facilities free for major sporting events because of the marketing opportunities it provides for the region.