Van Zyl revealed his fear of losing against Cornel Fredericks in front of his home crowd spurred him on to run a fast race.

“I didn’t want to lose in front of my people and expected to run a good 48 second race,” said Van Zyl after his race.

If no other athlete sets a new South African record at any of the remaining Yellow Pages meetings or at the 2001 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, Van Zyl will win the R200 000 Pot of Gold set aside by Athletics South Africa and Yellow Pages.