'I have very good support from my parents' - The secret to Jo-Ané van Dyk's Olympic silver medal success
At 26 years old most young women are beginning their lives in earnest - planning weddings, making career advancements or perhaps welcoming a first child. But then most young women are not Olympians. And if you want to be an Olympian in South Africa then in addition to the unforgiving demands of elite level training, you will also have to deal with the inevitable financial stress brought about by the fact that full-time training precludes full-time employment but bills don’t rest.
This is the conundrum facing most of the country’s would-be Olympic medalists. Most simply cannot afford to continue training full-time beyond their university years. It means that after one or two Olympic or World Championships appearances, battle weary from the blows of financial uncertainty and the uppercuts of endless negativity spewed by an uninformed public desperate to live Olympic glory vicariously through the exploits of a dedicated few, the track and field athletes throw in the towel and join the formal economy.
Thankfully, Jo-Ané van Dyk didn’t. She kept on trying.
"I'm just too stubborn to quit. We give up too early because 26/27 is where we only start peaking. I’m a registered dietician. I did my community service and then I did a business management course and now I’m doing a diploma in Coaching Science," said the North-West University student who had to continue studying even after completing her first degree in order to be eligible for the athletic support made available to her at the Potchefstroom campus.
Still, even with that backing, the two-time African javelin champion found the going tough at her maiden Olympics. Coached by the long-serving Terseus Liebenberg, van Dyk made her Olympic debut at #Tokyo2021 as a 23-year-old and was knocked out in the first round. But unlike others, who found the combination of a callous society belittling an Olympic first round exit coupled with financial stress to much to bear, the 5-time SA champion kept on going for one more Olympic cycle. She had an ace up her sleeve though.
"I have very good support from my parents. They support me a lot - financially as well. I’m only partially supporting myself because my parents play a big role. They give me the opportunity to pursue my dream everyday. They all want to see me chase my dream. My parents also never forced me to do the javelin. Till today I never felt pressure to do it, which is why I still enjoy it. No one ever told me that you must do javelin. They always said if you want to do the javelin then you are welcome."
It proved a wise decision to keep on going to #Paris2024 because after a top six finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Adidas athlete threw a lifetime best 64.22 to secure a spot in the Olympic javelin final, and then followed that up with 63.93 in the final to win the silver medal. Now engaged to be married, the young lady from Heidelberg in the Cape who started out as a netball player before falling in love with the javelin, will be celebrated by all and sundry as praise and money are heaped upon her.
Thank goodness for Jo-Ané's parents. Thank goodness for her fiancé who was supportive, patient and shared her Olympic dream. Thank goodness for the North-West University. Thank goodness for her coach who crowdfunded to pay his own way to the French capital. Thank goodness they all took a long-term view and supported her before the Olympic success and not after it. An achievement that the nation will claim but few invested in.
But what if you don’t have parents like Jo-Ané's? What then? Then you’re on your own. Get that medal first and then we’ll care.
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