Helping hand
Usain Bolt’s doctor lifted Gift Leotlela in his darkest hour
Gift Leotlela’s triumphant return from four years’ of injuries may have been overshadowed by sprint star Akani Simbine at the SA championships recently, but the way he galloped into second spot in the 100m signalled just how quickly he’s escaped his painful past.
“It’s been really difficult being out for so long and, you know, seeing other athletes run, doing well,” said Leotlela, who ran a wind-assisted 9.94 in the semifinals.
Foot in Japan
While he has yet to qualify for the Tokyo Games, he already has a foot in Japan as a member of the medal-chasing 4x100m relay.
Leotlela came to the fore as a schoolboy in 2016, winning the 200m silver at the under20 world championships in Poland and African championship gold in the 4x100m relay. He qualified for the Rio Olympics.
In his season-opener the next year he downed Wayde van Niekerk over 100m in Bloemfontein in a meet where the timing system failed, although he was hand-timed at 10.0sec. Ten days later he broke the SA under-20 100m record, clocking 10.12, and repeated that time a fortnight later.
But his season was soon ruined by a stress fracture in the lower back, banishing him to a long, dark winter that would have made Dr Zhivago’s seem like a cold snap.
There was no racing in 2018 and as he was getting ready for his comeback the next year, having overcome the back injury, Leotlela tore his left hamstring, forcing him to miss the local season.
He planned to compete in Europe, but two days before leaving he tore his right hamstring.
“The second hamstring tear I think I was in a rush to get back to compete,” said Leotlela. “It was my fault because I was pushing myself when I was not even ready to run that fast, so I do blame myself for the second one.
“I was feeling pressured. I wanted to go to Europe to compete at last, and the hamstring just went.”
Leotlela went to Europe anyway, and when he finally competed in July 2019 — more than two years after his last race — he clocked a pedestrian 11.43.
The second hamstring tear I was in a rush
Gift Leotlela
SA athlete
It’s been really difficult being out for so long
Gift Leotlela
SA sprinter
Tearing my hamstrings
“I think 2019 was my hardest season, when I was tearing my hamstrings left, right and centre, going to Europe and running 11s.”
But while he was there Leotlela got an appointment with the famous doctor HansWilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt, who had treated Usain Bolt and Van Niekerk.
He gave Leotlela heartening news. “He was like it’s not my time now. ‘You’ll be fine in Tokyo’.
“For someone with such a reputation, who’s worked with so many top-class athletes, obviously it did something for me, it gave me some hope. It did move me a lot.”
Leotlela finished his short European campaign with a season’s best 10.59, but misfortune wasn’t done with him.
He arrived home feeling ill, and a week later he underwent surgery for pancreatitis, staying in intensive care for a week.
After lockdown last year, training went well until Leotlela hurt his left knee. “That frustrated me a lot because I was like ‘what now? Why is this happening?’
“I had the back injury for way too long, and when that was getting better I got the hamstring injuries.”
But patched up at last, Leotlela is racing towards his destiny.