Medals earned by Hayes at the Paralympic Games between 2004 and 2016
Though a condition which affected her eyesight made it difficult for Ilse Hayes to participate in many of the sports she enjoyed in her youth, her decision to focus on track and field ultimately paid off.
At the age of 11, Hayes was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, which affects central vision and the ability to see basic detail.
Active in multiple sports as a child, she was already playing tennis and netball and competing in gymnastics, but due to her condition she opted to concentrate on athletics.
“With my visual disability I had to learn to plan very well,” Hayes told the Stellenbosch University website.
“Another lesson was to do everything flat out.”
It was an approach that worked.
Not only did her success in athletics come quickly, but Hayes was so versatile that she ultimately rose to international heights in four different events in the T13 disability class for visually impaired athletes with partial sight.
Displaying her talent as a teenager, she made heads turn in 2002 when she won gold in the 400m final and bronze in the 100m event at the IPC World Championships in Lille, at the age of 16.
Under the guidance of coach Suzanne Ferreira, Hayes went on to earn world titles in the 100m, 200m, 400m and long jump events throughout her lengthy career, and while she did not experience the same level of success at the Paralympics, she became a dominant force in the long jump event at the quadrennial showpiece.
After winning long jump gold at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, Hayes successfully defended her title at the 2012 London Games.
While she was not given an opportunity to defend her crown at the 2016 Rio Games, as the T13 long jump event was not included in the programme, Hayes managed to grab silver medals in the 100m and 400m finals.
In 2017, after securing silver medals in the 100m and 200m sprints at the IPC World Championships in London, she opted to hang up her spikes at the age of 31.
Looking back, her career medal haul can be matched only by South Africa’s greatest Paralympic athletes.
Between 2002 and 2017, Hayes earned a total of seven medals (including two gold) at four successive editions of the Paralympic Games and 13 medals (including six gold) at six editions of the IPC World Championships.
In one of her most memorable perforIkhamanga mances, she also clocked 11.89 seconds in Sao Paulo in April 2015 to set a T13 world record in the 100m dash.
In recognition of her accomplishments, Hayes received the Order of in Silver in 2013, and was named SA Sportswoman-of-the-Year with a Disability in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Away from the track, studying at Stellenbosch University, she achieved a sports science degree with honours.
Married to Cassie Carstens, she now has more time to spend with her family but Hayes will always have fond memories of an elite international career that lasted more than 15 years.
“I never wanted to look back and have regrets,” she told Maties.
“I did everything I could do, achieved everything I wanted to and gave everything I had, and we as a family still live like that.
“I’m very grateful that I had so many opportunities to meet so many people, see so many countries, experience so many cultures and make so many memories.”