Looking back on what has been perhaps the best season ever produced by a South African junior athlete, Bayanda Walaza says he won’t be changing any more than he needs to next year.
After securing a 4x100m relay silver medal at the recent Olympic Games in Paris, 18-year-old matric student Walaza went on to wrap up a historic 100m/200m double at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru last week.
Arriving home to a hero’s welcome at OR Tambo International on Tuesday morning, he confirmed that he would stick to his South African roots after completing his high school career.
Studying at Tuks
Despite receiving multiple offers from American universities, Walaza said he had accepted an offer from the University of Pretoria where he would study logistics next year.
He also planned to stay with his coach, Thabo Matebedi, after finishing matric at Curro Hazeldean high school.
“I’m not going to change coaches because that can cause a lot of difficulties,” Walaza said.
“It’s better to chill with the coach that’s working for me. He made me get two gold medals, and silver at the Olympics, so why must I leave him?
“That’s one of the reasons, but there are a lot of reasons why I want to stay in Pretoria. I love it.”
Running style
Despite receiving criticism for his unusual running style, Walaza also said he had no plans to try and correct it, opting instead to continue with the technique that had worked for him.
“I’ve heard a lot of comments, but my coach told me if it’s working for me I might as well keep doing it,” he said.
“If I change it, you never know. I might look nice running but I might not be the winner I am right now with this running style I have.
“It’s better to work with what you have. If my running style is working like this, it’s better to make it effective than changing it and then regretting it.”
Udeme Okon, the SA junior team’s other gold medallist (who won the men’s 400m final and bagged 4x400m relay silver in Peru) will return home on Wednesday.
