Samaai out to sync speed, air-time for lift-off

IF you want to go further, you have to go faster. That may be a general rule in life, but for long jump star Ruswahl Samaai, going a bit slower is just what he needs to pull off a mighty leap.

Samaai, is currently ranked second in the world this year with a best of 8.38m, marginally behind American Marquise Goodwin’s 8.45m. But while he won’t have any serious opposition from the rest of the continent at the African Championships in Durban this week, Samaai will have to contend with local rivals Luvo Manyonga and Stefan Brits for the gold medal.

The Paarl-born-and-raised athlete pulled off a huge jump of 8.38m to win the national title in April in Stellenbosch, but he is far from satisfied with that. He knows he can go so much further, with the SA record of 8.50m – set by Khotso Mokoena in 2009 – well within reach.

The 24-year-old Samaai has returned from the European season and spent some time in Port Elizabeth training with his coach Jenny Kingwill, and is determined to maximise his potential at the Kings Park Athletics Stadium, with the long jump final taking place tomorrow evening.

“My speed is really good and my coach doesn’t even want me to work on it further. I am really fast, so I want to go quickly up to the board, but try to stay in the air for a bit longer and not go to ground. A bit more ‘air-time’ to get me into the air and more distance,” Samaai said yesterday.

“Due to my speed, it’s very difficult for me to control myself in the air. My speed is too fast, so I almost need to slow down a bit in my approach to the board. But that is not what I want – I want everything to work together and in sync, to convert my speed and air-time all into one, to get the perfect jump.

“I don’t want to have to slow down, then think of the board and the jump. It must all come together… If I can get that right, then something big can come out. At the moment, my technique isn’t where it should be, but we are working on it and I will get there.”

Former world junior champion Manyonga has blown hot and cold in 2016. Having produced a big jump of 8.30m in early March to be ranked joint-sixth this year, he has battled since then, with his best effort an 8.05m in Pretoria 10 days ago. He also had an ankle injury that saw him bow out of the national championships in April in the early rounds.

But he is a seriously talented jumper – who also hails from Paarl, specifically the township of Mbekweni – and could challenge Samaai if he strikes some form tomorrow.

Brits, who is from Cape Town, is based at the Florida State University in the US, where he is studying towards a doctorate in chemistry, of all things. He qualified for the Olympics with an 8.22m in Tallahassee earlier this month, and would want to prove that he should go to the Rio Olympics with a strong showing in Durban.

The first final in the field events in Durban today will be the men’s shot put, where Orazio Cremona and Bu rger Lambrechts will be vying for gold.