Hezekiel Sepeng, the 30-year-old holder of the South African senior and junior 800m records and finalist in three Olympics, has decided to have a final go at the 2008 Games in Beijing. He was persuaded to do so by Kelly Holmes, double Olympic gold-medal winner in Athens.
Sepeng, a product of Potchefstroom, started his international career at the 1992 World Junior Championships in Seoul and recorded unforgettable highlights, winning silver medals at the Atlanta Games in 1996 and the 1999 World Championships in Seville.
He had been in two minds whether to retire since Athens but, after talking to Holmes, a regular visitor to Potchefstroom and owner of a house in the town, he took the decision to carry on.
”She was so convincing that he could hardly ignore her advice,” said Sepeng’s coach, Jean Verster.
Speaking about Sepeng to Verster, Holmes reiterated: ”Just think a bit about what I achieved in Athens. With all his experience gained in three Olympic finals and more than one World Championship final, I have no doubt that he can do the same.”
Sepeng has decided that he will gradually progress towards Beijing, with the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne as the first major stop. He will run in domestic meetings in South Africa this year as well as a few very early meetings in Europe with the plan, at this stage, to give the 10th World Championships in Helsinki a pass.
”With the Commonwealth meeting so early in the year, it will be an ideal situation and an exciting break from the strenuous events of the European circuit,” said Verster.
The 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, will be the next important target and Sepeng is hoping that Athletics South Africa will organise a training camp and perhaps a few warm-up meetings in China prior to the Worlds in Osaka.
”It would create an opportunity to get used to Chinese conditions before 2008 and would also offer an ideal build-up before the meeting in Japan,” Verster added.
In the forthcoming Absa Series, Sepeng will run 800m races in Bloemfontein and Oudtshoorn and two 1 500m events in Durban and Stellenbosch.
He will not feature in the opening Absa meeting in Potchefstroom on February 4, and a decision about the sixth fixture in Pretoria will be taken later.
He is also planning to run in the South African Championships in Durban in April, where he will most probably defend his 800m title. — Sapa