Bruintjies quest: fraction of a sec

Joint SA 100m record holder Henricho Bruintjies in action over 60m in Pretoria. Photo: Reg Caldecott

Joint SA 100m record holder Henricho Bruintjies in action over 60m in Pretoria. Photo: Reg Caldecott

Published Jan 31, 2016

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Johannesburg – He may be the joint South African 100m record holder, but Henricho Bruintjies still needs to improve a few fractions to count among the world’s top sprinters.

In his pursuit to establish himself among the elite, Bruintjies will take to the world indoor circuit in the 60m dash which also forms part of his Rio Olympics preparations.

Bruintjies ran his first 60m race in years at a meeting in Pretoria on Saturday, a day before his departure for Europe where he will feature in his first indoor event.

“I am trying to run in as many competitions as possible to get experience,” he said.

“Many athletes may think World Indoors is not a major event, but I believe whenever you compete against the world it is a massive privilege to represent my country.

“We don’t change much in our approach compared to the 100m. But we try to do more fast starts which is beneficial.”

He will line up in his first indoor meeting in Karlsruhe, Germany, on Wednesday before competing in Berlin (February 13) and Glasgow (February 20) ahead of the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon, from March 17-20.

Well primed for his maiden venture onto the indoor track, Bruintjies ran a personal best 6.69 seconds, improving his previous 2012 time by 0.1sec .

Bruintjies battled with a slight hamstring niggle which he has nursed for the last two weeks, but he was able to come through unscathed despite some expected rust.

His coach Hennie Kriel said the indoor circuit would provide his athlete with an opportunity to assert himself against other top international athletes.

“At this stage of his career Henricho needs to develop, each race is part of his development process on the way to the Games or whatever is the next big event,” Kriel said.

“He is still at the bottom of the top guys in the world; he is not right at the top, but we need to get him there.

“He needs to establish himself as a top international sprinter and to do that he must consistently run good times, and when you start running below 9.90 seconds (for the 100m) then it matters.”

Bruintjies, who shares the national record of 9.97sec with Akani Simbine, finished seventh in his heat in his maiden IAAF World Championships in Beijing last year.

Kriel said the indoor races would not only aid Bruintjies in his preparations for Rio, but there was also a worthwhile opportunity for the sprinter to make a livelihood from the shorter format.

“The Indoors are receiving a lot more attention. They’ve increased the prize money, and although it is not at the same level as the Diamond League, there is still a career in it,” Kriel said.

“And it fits into our season.

“When we have our season they have Indoors abroad, so there is no reason South African athletes can’t do well, and I think we should take advantage of it.”

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