South Africa has a lot to offer to throwers - hammer thrower Colette Uys
The University of Pretoria (TUKS) medical student has spent three-and-a-half years studying at the University of South Alabama and is now back training with a new training programme, new coaches and studying.
South African shot put and hammer thrower Colette Uys. Picture: Colette Uys/ Facebook.
JOHANNESBURG – A season of mixed emotions and sheer determination.
Colette Uys set high goals as a thrower and managed to outdo herself with the hammer throw but felt like she stumbled with the shot put.
“I’m extremely grateful for what I achieved this season, however, I had much higher goals coming into the season. I met the hammer throw goal - my goal was to break just the 60 meters and try and achieve 62 meters, which I got. I got 64 this season, so I’m very happy about that.
"With the shot put, however, I set high goals in the last three years. I improved one meter each year, so this season I didn’t think it was going to be different. I really wanted to throw 17 meters but it just didn’t happen."
The University of Pretoria (TUKS) medical student has spent three-and-a-half years studying at the University of South Alabama and is now back training with a new training programme, new coaches and studying.
"I think South Africa has a lot of potential when it comes to throwing. However, we are not quite there yet, compared to Sweden and Poland, America and I'm not sure exactly why. I think we have amazing coaches in South Africa, especially for throwing, like it's getting better. In the last year-and-a-half, I've seen a lot of growth in the hammer throw in South Africa as well, there's a lot more juniors interested in it."
Uys won the hammer throw at the 2024 South African Athletics Championships in Pietermaritzburg with a distance of 64.31 metres.
"This is a big year, the Olympics and you know, it's going to be a crazy year for the athletes. However, I'm not that focused on the 2024 Olympics. I will be watching it and cheering people on but for me this year, I just wanted to compete against myself, like I wanted to show the people in South Africa that I can throw and that, I want to do this long term."
The athlete, originally from Welkom in the Free State, picked up discus and shot put throwing in third or fourth grade and never stopped throwing.
"I enjoyed the thrill of throwing heavy things around and sometimes even throwing the heavier things than the boys, that was a big part of how I got into throwing and when I got to America, that’s when I got into hammer throw, so in 2020, I started the hammer throw. The coach, Coach Broski, loves the hammer throw, he believes hammer throw improves your strength to do shot put, that’s where it started."