The international athletics community might not really know who Jovan van Vuuren is, but as said, watch this space. One big jump in the next few weeks can change everything.

The Tuks athlete certainly is in good form at the moment. During the recent ASA Grand Prix Meeting in Bloemfontein, he won the men’s long jump with an 8.14m effort. A few days before that, during the 2022 Gauteng North Championships held at the Bestmed TuksAthletics Stadium, he won, jumping 8.16m. His previous personal best was 8.10m (2019). Van Vuuren is now ranked as one of the seventh-best long jumpers on South Africa's all-time list. 

And he is not done yet. Van Vuuren is confident of performing better.

"I know I have not yet come close to executing the perfect jump. I would rate my performance at Tuks as a 6 out of 10 effort. Yesterday afternoons was 5 out 10. It was 'lazy' jumps. I know I made mistakes that cost me extra centimetres. 

"At least I am consistent. Since last year my coach, Neil Cornelius, and I have worked hard on improving my big match temperament. Often during practise, Neil would create a scenario where I needed to achieve a specific goal. The idea is to get me used to performing at my best when pressured. 

"It is paying dividends. Yesterday in Bloemfontein was a bad day at the office. My body felt dead. I could not get going. It did not help that my nerves were also shot. I had a stern talk to myself. Reminding myself that I had spent many hours in the car to drive to Bloemfontein to compete and that it would be a shame if it ended up being time wasted. Then my "BMT" kicked in."

According to Van Vuuren, 2021 was not a good year. He was diagnosed as having two fractures in his pelvis. So he had to undergo serious rehabilitation, but that was not the worst of it. 

"My biggest disappointment was not competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Emotionally it took its toll. I was truly down and out. There was a stage where I was asking myself why I was putting in all the long hard hours if I couldn't achieve what I had set out to do. 

"But as it is said, sometimes a setback can be good. I am certainly more motivated. I want to execute that perfect jump that would establish me as one of the long jumping's greats. I know it is not impossible."

Van Vuuren's training partner, Helene Peens (Tuks), set a new personal best to win the women's long jump with a 6.37m metres effort. Her previous best was 6.29m. The past weekend she won the Gauteng North title jumping 6.12m. 

Peens was afterwards full of praise for her rivals. 

"Yesterday was one of the best competitions in women's long jump. It has been a while since four of us all managed to jump further than 6.30m. If we can keep this up, who knows what might happen. We could revive women's long jump in South Africa. Jumping 6.50m and further could become the norm."

After yesterday's performance, the question is not anymore whether Marione Olivier can dip under 13 seconds in the 100m-hurdles. It is when she is going to do so. The Tuks Sports Science student won, running 13.10s. It is a massive personal best. In February, she ran 13.29s. Her fastest time last year was 13.47s. During the Gauteng North Championships, she ran a wind-assisted 12.86s. 

Tuks's Taylon Bieldt is another athlete who seems hell-bent on pushing the boundaries. She was second yesterday in the 100m-hurdles running 13.15s. It is also a massive personal best. Last year she ran 13.33s. Ten minutes later, she was racing the 400 metres. Bieldt finished fifth running 53.92s. During the Gauteng North Champs, she set a new personal best in the 400m-hurdles running 55.91s. 

Zeney van der Walt (Tuks) won the women's 400 metres running 51.90s setting a new personal best. Marlie Viljoen (Tuks) was third in a time of 53.33s. It is the fastest of her career.