Tuks's coaches must be doing something right as they coach ten of the 31 athletes who will be competing from 27 September at the IAAF World Championships in Doha. 

There is a real chance that two or more of the Tuks athletes will get to compete in the finals. The names of Akani Simbine (100 metres) and Clarence Munyai (200 metres) immediately spring to mind. 

If she can remain, injury-free Rikenette Steenkamp (100m-hurdles) might be South Africa's best female athlete at the Championship.

The South African 400m-hurdles champion, Lindsay Hanekom, can cause a big surprise if he does not start to doubt his own abilities. His is one of only two African athletes who this season has been able to dip under 49 seconds. He ran his best time of 48.81s at the National Championship in Germiston. 

The Tuks hurdler's coach, Nico van Heerden, believes Hanekom to be in good form. 

"On a good day, there is no reason for him not to dip under 49 seconds. If he does, there is a real chance that he can qualify for the final but as said Lindsay has got to believe himself that it is possible."

Hanekom gave credit to 'Coach Nico'. 

"He changed my training program with the focus more on quality than quantity. We realised that I was not able to train like most other athletes because if I did, there would always be a real injury risk. For the first time, I also started doing strength and conditioning training."

Hanekom prefers to keep mum on what might happen tomorrow when he competes in the 400m-hurdles heats. His motto is that his legs must first do the talking. Afterwards, he might add a few words describing his feelings "flying over the hurdles".

An interesting statistic is that Van Heerden and Hennie Kriel who also coaches at Tuks have helped eight athletes to qualify for the World Championship. 

Apart from Hanekom Van Heerden also coaches Thapelo Phora (400m), Ranti Dikgale and Ashley  Hlungwani (both 4x400m relay).

Kriel coaches Munyai, Steenkamp, Ruan de Vries (110m-hurdles) and Tebogo Mamatu (100m).

The 33-year old De Vries has proved that perseverance does pay off. After nearly 17 years of competitive racing, it is the first time he will be competing at a senior World Championship.

As a youth athlete, De Vries made a name for himself when he set a world record in the 110m-hurdles at Pilditch. Unfortunately, he was not tested on the day, which meant his record-effort was never officially recognised. 

The one thing that kept him going through countless disappointments is the promise he made to himself to never stop until he got the opportunity to test himself against the world's best. 

To keep himself motivated, De Vries resorted to sticking personal reminders on various walls in his home. He achieved most of them. He is, however, not saying what the numbers on his wall were when he flew out to Doha.