Sacrifices paid off, says bronze medal athlete’s biggest supporter
THE girlfriend of Durban’s Olympic star, Henri Schoeman, doesn’t mind taking second place, as long as he continues to reap rewards from his sporting endeavours.
Schoeman bagged a bronze medal in the triathlon event, at the Rio Olympics on Thursday and Franzel Allen is proud to have played a supporting role in his latest success.
“When Henri and I started dating in 2011, he made it clear that training for the triathlon came first in his life,” she said.
At first, Allen, 23, couldn’t understand her 23-year-old boyfriend’s training regimen, but she came to learn about the life of a triathlon athlete, which comprises swimming, cycling and running.
“It requires sacrifice and dedication.
“When I wanted to spend time with Henri, I had to sit around the pool or track, while he trained,” she said.
She said his daily routine began with a 4.30am swim, breakfast, a session of cycling, lunch, and a nap, if he did not have much else to do.
“Then at 2pm he goes for a run and finishes the day with an ice bath. After all of that, he usually falls asleep around 7pm on my lap.
“Tea at the Circus Circus is usually a big jorl for us.
“But I don’t mind, as long as he is happy and performing.”
However, qualifying for the Olympics took an even greater effort, and started in earnest, two years ago, said Allen.
“He had to accumulate a certain amount of points to make the Olympic team and that meant travelling around the world to places like Europe, Australasia, America and North America.”
She said at the height of qualifying, Schoeman had to be away from home for seven months.
“That was really tough.”
Allen said three weeks before the Olympics, Schoeman had a sore throat and had to see a doctor, who told the athlete that he had bronchitis.
After completing a course of antibiotics, prescribed by the doctor, Schoeman was fine when he boarded the plane for Rio, Brazil.
But illness plagued Schoeman yet again, and three days before the event, he lost his voice.
“His family and I were concerned because Henri had a fever and was highly stressed.
“The Olympic team doctor (Kevin Subban) treated Henri and we were relieved when he was declared fit to participate the night before his event.”
Allen said Schoeman was very strategic in conserving his energy through each segment of the event, but never strayed too far from the leaders.
“In the latter stages of the 10km run, Henri surged past a French athlete and into third position, and held that until the finish line.
“I took time off work to watch the race with his parents at their Durban North home. When he finished, I was overcome with emotion.”
She said all of Schoeman’s sacrifice and dedication had paid off in a big way.
“It was a dream come true for Henri. Yes, he would have loved gold, but medalling at his first Olympics was a really great achievement
“I’m very proud of what Henri has achieved.”
Schoeman is due to arrive in Johannesburg tomorrow and in Durban on Tuesday.
“We’ll have a quiet family dinner on Tuesday and perhaps a big celebration next weekend.”
When asked if Schoeman would pop the marriage question to cap his Olympic success, Allen said it was unlikely.