The train accelerates and settles into a rhythm like a marathon runner. A gentleman, who seems in his late forties, well-built but just slightly overweight, attentively reads the morning tabloid.
At Thornton station he is joined by two friends who are in an upbeat jolly mood.
“Ahoy, yes, yes,” they greet each other.
The guy closes the tabloid, leaving the front exposed with a heading that says in bold letters “WE ARE PROUD OF YOU WAYDE” referring to Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk.
Three pairs of eyes are fixed on the front page as if they are hypnotized.
“This guy really stunned the world and captured the imagination of the people,” one of the guys comments.
“Yes, agreed, and made us proud to be South Africans,” the friend replies.
The guy in the middle keeps on staring at the front page without commenting. He has a faraway look in his eyes…
“Yas bru, are you awake? Djy sê ’an niksie,” one of the friends asks.
He looks up and replies, “Ek is hie’… Dink net ’n bietjie ver.”
“How far is that?” the other friend asks.
“Ek was oek ’n athletic star in my days.”
The other two look at him in disbelief.
“Really? I know you can down a six pack in less than four minutes yes, but a sprinter? No ways bru,” the one friend quips.
“Moenie gat maakie,” the other one almost exclaims looking surprised.
“Ouens I got medals, diplomas and Western Province blazers. Ek het Champ of Champs gehaloep under the Sacos banner back in the day,” he explains still looking at Wayde’s picture.
The other two look at each other smiling.
Then he goes on to explain: “I did a 11.07 seconds on Goodwood Showgrounds with North Star tekkies my oldest brother handed down to me.”
“My toppie-hulle kon nie spikes affort ‘ie.”
“Whaaa ka kaa kaaa…” the other two laugh almost in harmony.
The train momentarily stops at Maitland station where half of the commuters leave the carriage.
“Djy het sieke saam mettie wind gehaloep daai dag,” the one friend continues to tease.
“Ja, that was half of what you are now,” the other one adds.
“Guys, we had no future. Athletics wasn’t a career for us like it is today with big money endorsements and sponsors.”
“We ran against a system which favoured only a certain population; never mind die wind.”
“No professional coaching and specialised training or sports science like we have today.”
“Ek sê dan ek sal ’n biete’ tyd kaalvoet gehaloep ‘it. Daai North Stars was skief en vetrap al,” the former-athlete explains with sincerity in his voice.
“Whaaaa ka ka ka kaaa…” the other two laugh again.
“So what happened; why did you stop?” the one asks.
“I discovered other talents,” he answers with a naughty grin on his face.
“Oh OK, watse sport was daai?” the friend asks.
“Jarrrre ouens… To my dismay… Wine, women and song,” the former-athlete answers looking down almost in regret.
“…but my youngest boy; he can run. The teacher told us ‘this boy… hy’s ‘ie baie excited vi’ skoolwêk ’ie, but athletics and sports makes him excited,” he continues to say, this time brimming with pride.
“Then you must make a plan bra. Get him in the right environment; a sport academy or something like that,” the friend says, this time looking quite serious.
“Sorted bra; enrolled already. It just depends on his year-end grades but so far, so good. The guy is above average,” the former-athlete says with pride as we are about to exit the carriage.
One person can make the difference; with almost super human ability, yet humble in character. Wayde did…
***
Urban Dictionary
niksie – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans term “niks nie”
which means “not anything” or “nothing”.
gehaloep – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “gehardloop” which means ‘ran’
tekkies – An Afrikaans word for “sneakers” or “training shoes”
toppie – An Afrikaans slang word for “father” or for an “old man”.
affort – The Afrikaaps version of the English word “afford”.
sieke – The Afrikaaps version of “seker” which in Afrikaans could either mean “sure” or “probably”.
mettie – The Afrikaaps version of “met die” which is Afrikaans for “with the”.
biete – The Afrikaaps version of “beter” which is the Afrikaans word for “better”.
kaalvoet – The Afrikaans word for “bare feet” as in “without shoes”.
skief – The Afrikaaps version of “sfeef” which is the Afrikaans word for “skew”.
vetrap – The Afrikaaps version of “vertrap” which is the Afrikaans word for “trampled”.
skoolwêk – The Afrikaaps version of “skoolwerk” which is the Afrikaans word for “school work”.
Sacos – The South African Council on Sport resisted Apartheid and segregation in sport by practicing non-racial sports. Sacos also supported the international sports boycott in the Apartheid-era which meant that South Africa was banned from competing at an international level.
One of their slogans was “There can be no normal sport in an abnormal society.”