JOHANNESBURG – On Saturday, a spoiling wind denied Anaso Jobodwana (TuksAthletics) from running a new best in the 100 metres in Pretoria.
However, he is not deterred. Rather, he says it will motivate him.
Jobodwana won the 100 metres at the Gauteng North Championships in a time of 10.07, but unfortunately, the wind from behind was 3.3 metres per second.
In the semi-final, his time was 10.12, but again the wind was a factor. It means Jobodwana’s best time officially in the short sprint remains 10.10.
But he is quite upbeat about his performance.
“I know now that there is speed in my legs. The challenge is to figure out how to be consistently fast in races and to make sure I stay fast.
“It is now only February. I aim to be still able to run fast times in September. The ultimate goal is to run a good race at next year’s World Championships,” said Jobodwana, who decided last week to join TuksAthletics.
The world bronze medallist will be coached by Thabo Matebedi, who also coaches the talented Malesela Senona.
According to Jobodwana, he has known Matebedi for quite a few years. There were times in the past that Matebedi advised him on some aspects of his sprinting.
What he said made sense, which is why he decided to ask Matebedi to coach him fulltime.
“My time in Durban has come to an end. The plus of joining Tuks is that there is a group of talented sprinters. To be honest, I missed that competitive edge when training.”
Jobodwana said he made a conscious decision last year on sorting out his injury issues.
“It got to be frustrating to get injured every time I pushed myself a bit, whether it was in training or racing.
“I realised that I will probably never get to race to my full potential if I just keep on going as always.
“So my focus has been in rectifying all my imbalances. I’ve got perhaps five, maybe six good years of racing left, and I want to make the most of it.”
On Thursday, Jobodwana will be competing in the 200 metres at the Athletix Grand Prix in Ruimsig.
The South African junior 200m record holder, Clarence Munyai, is also racing.
The Tuks athlete ran a personal best time of 10.10 in the 100 metres over the weekend.
“I think Clarence and I proved during the Gauteng North Championships that we got a bit of a rivalry going. Both of us want to win.
“But for now, I don’t want to focus on running specific times, as it might throw me out of my game. I just want to focus on executing the perfect race.
“It is something I have not done for a long time, and I need to do so if I want to become competitive in 200 metres sprinting again.”
Another big race for Jobodwana will be on March 8 when he takes on American world 100m champion Justin Gatlin over 150 metres at Tuks.
Jobodwana does not want to speculate as to what might happen.
“Hopefully I will execute a good race, and who knows what might happen if I do so.”