It won't be wrong to refer to the Tuks athletics track as to where athletes get to fulfill their speedy aspirations. 

One of the most historic moments in South African athletics happened nine years ago. To be exact, it was on 25 February 2011. It took LJ van Zyl just 47.66s in the 400m-hurdles to stun athletics fans around the world. 

Nobody expected to see Van Zyl's "blitzkrieg". A torrential downpour during the meeting sort of put a damper on the proceedings. Moments before the 400m-hurdles race, the rain stopped, the track was wet, but the conditions were perfect.

While settling in his starting blocks, Van Zyl reminded himself that it was just another race in which he got to push himself to the limits. The moment the starter's gun fired the Tuks athlete bolted away.

"I was already in the lead coming to the second hurdle.  As I got to the eighth hurdle, I heard the stadium commentator, Altus Schreuder, urging the crowd on to support me.

"Going over the last hurdle, I afforded myself a quick glance at the clock. It showed 40 seconds. That was just the motivation I needed. I managed a final burst of speed while Altus started to count down the seconds...41...42...43...44...45...46...

"As I crossed the finish line, I saw the clock stopped at 47.68s. I realised that I had just set a new South African record. My first reaction was, could this be correct. I knew it had been a fast race, but because of the weather, I did not expect it to be that fast."

Later Van Zyl's time was officially adjusted to 47.66s.

According to the Tuks athlete he had for more than four years been chasing after the South African 400m-hurdles record without success. He improved on Llewellyn Herbert's record of 47.80 seconds set at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

"I owed my success to Cornel (Fredericks) who was running in the inside lane behind me. I could hear him catching up on the back straight which urged me on," Van Zyl explained.

Fredericks finished in 49.61 seconds with PC Beneke behind him 51.7 seconds.

"To have run 47.66s at Tuks made everything more special. I got to hone my 400m-hurdles skills at Tuks, training there almost every day. You can say that Tuks track became the 'backyard' of my life. I would not have wanted to break the SA record anywhere else."

2011 was undoubtedly the pinnacle of Van Zyl's hurdling career. In the space of just 95 days, he managed to break through the magical 48 seconds barrier on four occasions clocking the four fastest times of the year. To top it all, he won a bronze medal, his only,  at the World Championships in Daegu and was part of the South African 4x400m-relay team that won a silver medal.

Other breakthrough moments that happened at Tuks was in 2014 when Simon Magakwe won the 100m during the South African Championships in 9.98s. He was the first local sprinter to dip under 10 seconds.

In 2017 history was again made at Tuks when Akani Simbine won the 100 metres in 9.92s, and Thando Roto finished second in 9.95s. It was the first and only time two South African sprinters dipped under 10s in the same race. 

Another special moment at Tuks was on 20 April 2012 when Caster Semenya won the 800m in 1:59.58. It was the first time in 21 years that a South African female athlete managed to dip under two minutes in a local double lap race. Zelda Pretorius did so on 1 April 1991 at Pilditch.