Jovan van Vuuren, a master's student in Humanities Education and Higher Certificate in Sport Sciences teaching assistant recently shared his remarkable journey—which led to winning a bronze medal in the long jump at the 2022 Commonwealth Games—with Sports Science students.

Jovan immediately captured the students’ attention when he stated that ‘success is not pretty’, and that they should not expect it to be pretty as success demands many sacrifices from those who are serious about achieving their goals in their sport. He then discussed some of the techniques he uses when he is in training and competition. He also reminded the students that not everything in life goes as you planned and referred to when he contracted COVID-19 at the 2022 African Championship in Mauritius and had to compete in the long jump final while when he should have been in bed. Another unfortunate hiccup occurred when the team travelling to attend the 2022 World Championship experienced problems with visas, as a result of which he arrived only two days before the long jump heats and failed to qualify for the finals.

He explained to the class what had gone through his mind on both occasions, and what he had done mentally to still give 100% at the events, even though the odds were against him. He also shared what he had learned from those setbacks and how he succeeded in the next major championship, only one week after the World Championships. Something else he shared with the students was that he sits down after every competition and writes down the positive and negative aspects so that he can work on his mistakes. Even if a competition doesn’t go as planned, one can still take something positive from of it.

To give your best and perform to your full potential, you must be physically and psychologically prepared. Sometimes being psychologically prepared helps when an athlete does not feel 100% physically. Improving one’s mental state is crucial before competing at a professional level. To mentally prepare himself for competing in an event, he uses music and visualisation to puts himself in a position where his focus is 100%. However, since we are all different, every athlete will have to find his or her own way to achieve a focused state of mind.