76 is an age where most might consider starting to tone down on their aspirations, but then again the Tuks athletics coach Hugo Badenhorst has never been most people.
He is still as passionate about coaching as the day he started. That was 48 years ago. One definite goal remains. It is to get Chris Moyela to jump 2.30m or higher. It means the Tuks athlete will have to improve by three centimetres on his personal best of 2.27m.
Should Moyela jump 2.30m, it will mean Badenhorst's career as a coach has come a full circle. He can, after all, boast with the unique distinction of being the first South African coach to get an athlete to jump 2.30m. Jacques Freitag was only 18 when he did so in 2000.
In the history of South African athletics, Ramsay Carelse is the only other athlete to have ever jumped 2.30. He did so in 2005.
One can't help but believe when Badenhorst starts talking about his 2.30m dream for Moyela. It is the Tuks coach's passion and excitement that does it.
"I don't feel 76 years. It is only a number on paper to me. I would bet money on it that I am more active than many of the younger coaches. My biggest problem is having all this energy. Unfortunately, my body has taken a few knocks over the years, which meant that I am not able to utilise my energy always to the fullest. It is like having a brand new V8 engine in a vintage car. The 'bodywork rattles and protests' when the engine gets to run at its maximum capacity."
Badenhorst started coaching in 1972. At first, it was to help out at the school where his kids were. It, however, did not take long before coaching became a calling to him. By 1976 he started to specialise as a high jump coach.
Over the years the athletes Badenhorst coached have won many gold medals and titles. But it is not why he continues to coach.
"I love working with people. One of the most significant rewards in sport is when an athlete you coach gets to fulfil a dream, and you know that in some small way, you have helped them to do so. That is the journey you forget.
Talent is not everything to Badenhorst. He actually prefers to coach those who had to work for everything they had achieved.
"In the end, sport boils down to being a test of character. To become a champion is never easy. You really need to want it badly. It means putting in long hours. In sport, there are never any guarantees. You are bound to fail, but you can never give up. You got to continue putting in the long hard hours. Only if you do, you eventually will succeed."
Badenhorst guided Freitag to winning a World Youth (under-18) title in 1999 and World Junior (under-20) title in 2000. Three years later Freitag went on to also win the senior world title. The Tuks athlete is the only athlete in the world to ever win world titles in all three age categories. In 2005 Freitag set the South African record jumping 2.38m.
Badenhorst was not coaching Freitag by the time he won the senior world title. Still, at least he has the satisfaction of knowing he helped the Tuks athlete realise nothing is impossible if you believe in your abilities.
His challenge now is to get Moyela to believe that three centimetres higher is not such a big deal. After that, the goal is going to be nine centimetres higher. National records are, after all, there to be broken.
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