AT 44-YEARS-old, South African shotput Paralympic athlete, bronze medallist Tyrone Pillay, is enjoying taking a break from the athletic lifestyle that he has been accustomed to for the past 15 years.

Pillay was not selected to participate in the upcoming Paris Paralympics – from August 28 to September 8 – due to a limited number of spots available on the South African team.

He said the past few competitions he had participated in had not propped him up enough, so that he could qualify for the Paris games.

The Durban-born athlete, who relocated with his family to Belgium in 2022, said he was initially disappointed but had a change of heart after people responded warmly to his “retirement” message on social media.

Pillay competed in two Paralympic Games – the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Competing in Rio was the highlight of his career. He won a bronze medal in the individual shot put event.

“Competing at the highest level in Rio was always my goal. It was something I tried hard towards and knew I was going there to achieve something.

“I trained hard for the tournament and it paid off.

“After that, while I was in Japan in 2017 for an awards ceremony held by my sponsor, Toyota, the CEO, Akio Toyoda, came up to me and asked me if I would compete again in Tokyo in 2020.

“I had no intention of competing again but this was the CEO of Toyota; obviously I could not say no to him. I was in absolutely no shape to compete but had to kick it into gear after I decided to go ahead and compete in Tokyo,” Pillay said.

The Tokyo games were not as successful for Pillay as was his bout in the Rio arena; as harsh weather made it difficult for him to get proper traction with his prosthetic leg.

Pillay was born with an abnormality on his left foot and has been wearing a prosthetic since he started walking at 10-months-old.

“The rain was really bad in Tokyo. I remember falling over a couple times and even got hurt after a fall. It was extremely difficult to control myself in the rain. But I could not make any excuses for my performance.

“After Tokyo, the next time I competed with the World Paralympic athletics where I came 5th. I also suffered an incident shortly before the games when my prosthetic leg broke and I could not get it fixed in Belgium.

“I had to send the leg to South Africa and it came back to Belgium like a week before the games, so it was really stressful. The leg had to be replaced after a certain number of years but when Covid-19 hit, I could not replace the prosthetic and overused it until it broke,” Pillay said.

Now working as a consultant for Toyota in Belgium, as part of the Olympic sponsor team, Pillay said he was ready to use his experience to help others grow in the Olympic arena.

“I have competed for over 15 years and have lots of game experience so I guess that’s what they (Toyota) wanted me to help with in preparing for the Paris games.

“I was disappointed when I did not make the Paris team but there were only nine spots for male athletes available and the standard to make the team was really high.

“After finding out I was not on the team, I put out a message on social media saying I was calling it quits and the responses I got really made me have a change of heart in many ways.

“People said such nice things about me and made me see myself in a light that I never did.

“People used words like ‘legendary’ and ‘motivator’, which made me feel good about the situation and not be sour that I didn’t make the Paris team. I felt seen, especially as an Indian person competing in athletics. There are not a lot of us that put so much effort into a sport like this, so it was rewarding.

“Those messages of goodwill transformed me in a way and helped me see the whole situation differently. I came to terms with it after a few days of disappointment and am now ready for the next chapter.”

Pillay said he was not entirely sure yet about what the future held for him, but he would like to stay close to the arena as it was where he belonged.

He added that taking time away from the rigid structure which an Olympic athlete had to follow “feels really nice”.

“I can eat whatever I want now and not have to pay attention to every small detail about diet and what time I get up to train. I am enjoying my time now.

“I have been to a few events at the Olympics and I will attend the Paralympics.

“I always wanted to take part in the World’s Strongest Man contest and there is a Paralympic version of that, so maybe that is something I would pursue when I’m done taking a break,” Pillay said.

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SA Paralympic legend Tyrone Pillay on life after athletics