Anaso is Team SA’s big gamble
WHEN Anaso Jobodwana lines up for the first round of the 200m at the Rio Olympics on Tuesday, it will mark exactly 11 months and 11 days since his last race.
The 200m bronze medallist at the 2015 world championships is Team SA’s big gamble.
The selectors weren’t as generous to long-jumper Zarck Visser, who had qualified last year but hadn’t displayed world-beating form since returning from injury in June.
Both Jobodwana and Visser had the potential to finish in the top three at these Games, but only one got the nod.
Yet nobody knows what type of shape US-based Jobodwana is in, not even the talented sprinter himself, though he talked himself up this week.
“My fitness in terms of where my times are in training is really good, but obviously running will be the main test,” Jobodwana said in an interview at the Olympic village.
“I feel that after the first round I can feel where my mojo is at and then just kinda take it from there.”
In March he thought his Olympics was over, now he is dreaming about a medal.
“The last two weeks have been really good. I think one of the sessions, I was kind of sceptical about it, but the coach said I was 20.0 shape.
“And then last week I kinda hit a 20.0 kind of run so now it’s just up to me to simulate it in the arena, don’t let the nervousness or the thing of not running the whole year take me over.”
What makes Jobodwana think he has a chance in Rio is that he’s never run that fast in training before.
How that will translate into competition without racing remains to be seen, yet he is adamant he is aiming for the podium.
“It’s audacious but I can’t come here just to participate, and I don’t think I would have come here if I felt I wasn’t ready to contend for a medal.”
Reaching the podium will probably require a time faster than the 19.87sec personal best he ran last year — three men this year have already been quicker — excluding Usain Bolt.
“What made me realise I’m ready was training and hitting the times.
“I didn’t lose anything as much as I felt I would. I think adversity over the years has just made me stronger.”
Critics might view Jobodwana’s confidence as unwarranted, but he’s not given to flights of fancy.
Going into the world championships last year, he appeared to be struggling to break 20.10. Before his event started, he spoke about how he had corrected a couple of issues and he was expecting to go fast.
Indeed he did, rocketing to the podium. There’s no reason to suspect he’s over-hyping this time.
Jobodwana says another advantage is that he isn’t weighed down by expectation. “There’s no pressure, which is something I like.”
I think that adversity over the years has just made me stronger