'He's a brilliant boy!' - Walaza wins gold in 10.19 at World Athletics U20 Championships

Described as raw by many who watch his unorthodox rocking sprinting technique, Bayanda Walaza's coach Thabo Mathibedi insists that there is no reason to change his unique running style. Just three weeks after becoming the country's first schoolboy to win an Olympic medal, South Africa’s golden boy has added more silverware to his swelling trophy cabinet.

Walaza celebrates after winning gold in Lima. Photo Credit: World Athletics.

This morning the 18-year-old became the fastest teenager on earth when he won the World Athletics U20 title in the Peruvian city of Lima in 10.19. Team SA came away with two medals in the event as Walaza's fellow Olympic 4x100m relay silver medalist Bradley Nkoana earned bronze (10.26) behind Thailand's Puripol Boonson (10.22). 

"He's a championship runner. He can take the punches. He can go six rounds in two days. We have been very fortunate to be injury free and healthy throughout the off-season after he ran 10.3 at the end of last year which put us in good shape for this year. The plan this year was the World Junior Championships and to win the SA U20 title. Our aim was to go the podium and win it! We wanted gold. The Olympics prepared him psychologically and emotionally. He's a brilliant boy," said Mathibedi.

Walaza with his signature flailing arms during at the Pilditch Stadium earlier this year where he ran a personal best 10.13. Photo Credit: Cecilia van Bers.

While some argue that the Curro Hazeldean matric learner could run even faster if his technique could be polished, Mathibedi says he sees no reason to do that, especially for a young man who has already recorded an impressive 10.13 personal best before the age of nineteen.

"I know people are complaining about the way he runs, but look at Michael Johnson's running style or the great Haile Gebreselassie. We all have two legs and two arms but our anatomy is not the same. I'm not going to change the way he runs, I'm going to make him much stronger with the very same running style because that’s how his brain processes things. That's how his brain and his body communicate through his neurosystem," he explained.

"Once he gets under pressure that’s when he starts swinging his arms all over the place. He's trying to get himself out of that pressure. That's his survival skill. We cannot change his survival skill. I’m not going to change it. That’s his survival mechanism."

Walaza and Nkoana won gold and bronze in the men's 100m at the World Athletics U20 Championships. Photo credit: World Athletics.

Meanwhile, Viwe Jingqi finished in fifth place in the final of the women’s 100m when she stopped the clock in 11.57. South Africa are currently (29 August) in joint third place on the medals table thanks to those two medals from Walaza and Nkoana, as well as a silver medal which was won by JL van Rensburg in the shot-put.