The African under-20 100-meter hurdles champion Chané Kok's quest to get faster starts as the new season is upon us.

She had a brilliant season last year. Apart from winning the African title, she was also the South African under-20 champion and won silver at the senior national championships. It is why she became Athletics South Africa's junior female athlete of the year.

The UP-Tuks BCom Business Management student is under no illusions, as there is truth in an athlete being only as good as their last race.

"My main goal this season is to be as close as possible to running a 13.00 second race. That is why I worked hard in the gym for the first time in the off-season. The focus was also to improve my 'shuffle'. It is sprinting faster between hurdles without any increase in stride length. The risk with a too-long stride is that you can 'run out of room' and end up hitting or crashing into the hurdles.

"I love the challenges that come with 100-meter hurdling. There is never a time that you can think that is it; I have mastered all. There is always something in your technique that you need to work on to ensure you will be faster.

Hurdling seems to be a family thing. Kok's aunt, Vanessa Becker (Eksteen), was also quite a fast hurdler in her heyday. A definite highlight was finishing fifth in the 400-metre hurdles during the 1998 World Junior Championships in Paris. She is also a former SA under-23 champion.

Kok credits her mom as the one who inspired her to hurdle.

"It might sound strange when I say my mom is my role model, but she is a fantastic woman. If I can one day be half the woman she is, I will be happy. My mom used to be a keen hurdler when she was at school. She set a best time of 14.10s in the 100-meter hurdles. My challenge was to see if I could be faster. At long last, I got to do so last year."

Kok set a new personal best last year in April, running 13.79s. The Tuks athlete has been very consistent this year. Once she dipped under 14 seconds, her times varied between 13.79 seconds and 13.88 seconds. The only exception was during the African Junior Championships in Zambia. Kok won at 14.29, but she was challenged by a strong headwind. She won five of the 10 races she had competed in. In only one race, she did not have a top-three finish.

"I have been told that once you can consistently run about the same times, the breakthrough race is bound to happen. I would like to clock a fast time tomorrow. It will be exciting to race against Marione Fourie (SA record holder) and Taylon Bieldt (former SA record-holder). I am bound to get pushed to be at my best."