Cape Town - Stay in the circle, and don’t waste your throws. That is what SA discus champion Victor Hogan needs to do if he wants to win at the Doha Diamond League meet on Friday, according to his coach Kaai Preller.
The 26-year-old Hogan, who was born in Vredenburg on the Cape West Coast, produced a world-class throw of 67.62m at the SA National Championships in Stellenbosch last month, which placed him at the top of the world list for 2016.
But of course, most of the top athletes are only starting their season in the next few weeks, and that is the case in the discus, where world champion Piotr Malachowski from Poland will lie in wait.
Hogan, though, can take great confidence from his effort at Coetzenburg in mid-April, as that mark of 67.62m – also a personal best – would’ve clinched a gold medal at last year’s world championships in Beijing.
Malachowski grabbed the title with a 67.40m throw at the “Bird’s Nest” stadium, with Hogan failing to get through the qualifying rounds after recording just 62.41m.
So, there’s a lot at stake for the Boland and Maties athlete at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium on Friday, as Malachowski and fellow Beijing medallists Philip Milanov (Belgium) and Robert Urbanek (Poland) will also participate, and all three, plus Australia’s Benn Harradine – who is in Doha as well – have better PBs than Hogan.
But to beat his previous best by 2.29m represents a significant step forward for Hogan. “He is in better form than what he was. The reason for that is that he has stayed in Stellenbosch the whole time, and that helped as we could train much more, as previously he was in Kleinmond and I was in Bloemfontein,” Preller told Independent Media on Thursday.
“I used to send him training tips via email, but it’s always better to train in person.
“What people also don’t know is that he actually had a knee problem for quite a while, but since November it has gone away and he can now use the power in his legs, which is vital for a thrower.”
Preller is a renowned coach who has led many South African teams to world events over the years, and he also guided SA discus record-holder Frantz Kruger during his career.
He is reluctant to make comparisons between Kruger and Hogan, but has high hopes for the latter.
Hogan didn’t qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, so will be determined to make up for that and last year’s failure at the world championships.
That journey starts in earnest in Doha, but Preller is not expecting Hogan to go close to Kruger’s SA and African record of 70.32m on Friday. “No, not now! Most of the distances are determined by the weather conditions on the day. That’s a hectic distance! It’s going to be like an Olympic Games, as everyone wants to throw in Doha and the top athletes will all be there.
“Victor is really in good form, and I hope that he will have a good event. He must just stay in the circle, as he uses rotation to get his technique going. He must stay in the circle and not waste throws, as he had too many no-throws (four out of six attempts) at the SA champs.”
Hogan will be one of six South African athletes competing in Doha, with the others being 800m star Caster Semenya, Wenda Nel (400m hurdles), Sunette Viljoen (javelin), Dumisane Hlaselo (1 500m) and Antonio Alkana (110m hurdles).
There will also be a 4x400m relay squad travelling to Doha to try and qualify for the Olympics, comprised of Shaun de Jager, Thapelo Phora, Pieter Conradie, Jon Seeliger and junior athlete Phemelo Matlhabe.
Nel clocked an excellent 54.84 at the SA champs, and will hope to be pushed to a quicker time by the likes of world champion Zuzana Hejnova from the Czech Republic and bronze medallist Cassandra Tate of the US.
Six out of the seven other athletes in the field have a quicker personal best than Nel, but the Tuks athlete came seventh in the Beijing final and wants to push for a medal in Rio.
“It is the beginning of a new international season and Doha will give me a good indication of whether my preparation for the Olympic Games in Rio is on track,” Nel told the Sascoc website.
“I was happy with my performance at the national championships. After analysing my race with my coach Irma Reyneke, we realised that I perhaps started out a bit too slow over the first 200 metres. Going over the last two hurdles, I could feel that I still had a lot left in my legs.”
* The Doha meet starts at 5.45pm SA time on Friday, and will be televised live on SuperSport channel 205. Follow @IndyCapeSport on Twitter for live updates of the event.
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Independent Media