JUST a few weeks ago, 18-year-old matric learner Bayanda Walaza returned home with an Olympic silver medal, which he had won alongside Akani Simbine in the Paris Olympics 4x100m relay final.
Now he has a gold medal on a different world stage as well.
The youngster had little time to celebrate that Olympic achievement as he had to lace up his boots once again, this time for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru – and he delivered by clinching the 100m title on Wednesday night.
Teammate Bradley Nkoana secured the bronze medal in the same race.
With all eyes on him as an Olympic medallist, Walaza breezed through the 100m heats in Peru.
However, in the semi-finals, the youngster seemed to crumble under pressure as he uncharacteristically stumbled out of the block, and scrambled his way back into the race to eventually win with a reasonably slow 10.33 seconds, especially for a youngster who had recorded 10.13 earlier in the season.
“I was at a point where I had to trust myself. I had to be zoned in and be like whatever happens, let’s make sure I finish strong so that I don’t complain, because other people I think they would let that race go,” said Walaza after the semi-final in Peru.
“There was a point where I was wondering if I would get to those gents ahead of me, but trusting myself and doing it is just unbelievable.”
Despite the slow start and a little hiccup in his run to the final, Walaza’s self-belief never wavered.
Instead, if anything, the Curro Hazeldean High School pupil believed in himself even more as he now knew that he was capable of coming from behind to win a race against some of the world’s fastest teenagers.
“Everyone wants to get a medal here,” Walaza emphasised in the build-up to the 100m final. “We are not here to play. But I think I’ll win (the final). I’m not thinking, I will win,” the youngster said with a huge smile.
Fellow SA sprinter Nkoana, an Olympic silver medallist alongside Walaza and Simbine in Paris, reached the final of the 100m race in Peru as well with 10.30, three one-hundredths of a second faster than Walaza’s semi-final time.
On the night of the 100m final, Walaza had Nkoana and Thailand sprinter Puripol Boonson on his right-hand side.
However, Walaza rectified the slow start he had in the semi-final heats and took control of the race from the beginning to become the fastest teenager in the world with a sparkling 10.19 seconds to claim the gold medal.
South African 100m glory ‼️
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 29, 2024
Watch as Bayanda Walaza storms to the 100m gold with 10.19 🔥#WorldAthleticsU20 pic.twitter.com/2f2ju9YcIc
Boonson’s 10.22 finish earned him a silver medal as he became the first Thai sprinter to win a medal at the championships.
Nkoana secured a bronze medal with an equally impressive 10.26 effort.
Walaza will now tackle the 200m, where the heats began last night.
South Africa now have three medals – after JL van Rensburg grabbed a silver in the men’s shot put with a 20.74m distance on Tuesday – and were lying joint third on the medals table after two days of competition in Peru.
Viwe Jingqi ended fifth in the women’s 100m final in 11.57, well behind Jamaican winner Alana Reid in 11.17.
Udeme Okon finished second in his 400m semi-final in 47.08 seconds to advance to last night’s final, while Johannes Morepe ended second in his 1 500m heat in 3:45.10 to book his spot in tomorrow’s final.
Tumi Ramokgopa won her 400m hurdles heat in 58.04 and Hannah van Niekerk ended second in hers in 58.44 to advance to today’s semi-finals, while Njabulo Mbatha advanced to the semi-finals of the men’s 400m hurdles.
Tshepang Dankuru cleared 2.12m and Luke van der Merwe 2.09m to progress to the men’s high jump final scheduled for today.