'They must reach the final' - Sepeng's athletes are ready for Olympic battle

In 1996, Samuel Sepeng watched on television as his brother Hezekiel Sepeng won a silver medal in the 800m at the Atlanta Games in the United States of America to become South Africa's very first black Olympic medalist. Eager to follow in his footsteps, Samuel became a middle distance athlete but never quite managed to make the impact that his brother did. But that was only the first part of his journey to the Olympic Games because it is as a coach that he has found his true calling.

"I was a runner before but I told myself that the things that I didn't achieve, I have to reach through coaching. It was a dream to see myself at the Olympics while I was still a runner but it didn't happen so then 2024 was the year I targeted to see myself in the Olympics," said the man who achieved a career best 1:48.81 over 800m before hanging up his spikes to focus on coaching.

Sepeng and Sekgodišo celebrate Ketlhobogile Haingura's Olympic qualification. The man from Botswana who won the silver medal at the African Championships in Accra, Ghana in June ran a lifetime best 1:43.94 to win the two-lap race at the ASA Grand Prix Meet in Pretoria in March. Photo Credit: Tumelo Mabua.

Sepeng who also worked with Caster Semenya, has been selected as Team SA's Olympic middle distance coach, an appointment which is an acknowledgement of his success over the last three years. The 36-year-old made history by guiding seven athletes to qualify for #Paris2024. Included in those seven who hail from South Africa and Botswana are South African 800m sensation Prudence Sekgodiso, who is one of the medal prospects; multiple SA Champion and 1500m specialist Tshepo Tshite and Botswana National Record holder Oratilwe Nowe. The man who leads the Sepeng Group says this didn't come as a surprise to him. 

"To be honest, when the season started, I set a target of having four or more athletes going to the Olympics. The target I set was based on the fact that I had four athletes who were competing at last year's Athletics World Championships in Budapest. We celebrated as it was something we dreamed about which is now a reality," he said reflecting on the team's achievements. 

10-year-old Samuel Sepeng watching his brother become South Africa's first black Olympic medalist. Photo Credit: Hezekiel Sepeng.

Samuel, who joined forces with the Phantane Athletics Club earlier this year, says he has had to overcome challenges in order to reach the pinnacle of his career. The main obstacle being a lack of funding. "Looking at where I started, there have been challenges but as a coach you must have a goal in mind for starters. Why am I doing this? Personally, I told myself I want to change people's lives. If you look at our project, there are no sponsors besides Nike helping us with running gear. There is a clubhouse, athletes have to eat, travel to races, go to Europe etc. So sometimes there a some things that we don't end up doing because of a lack of funding."

But when it comes down to the big day, Sepeng has found a way to get the best out of his athletes notwithstanding the hurdles they may have had to overcome. And the same will be expected of them at the Olympic Games. Samuel understands the stage and is keeping targets low even though expectations are high.

Sepeng poses with his athletes including Botswana's Tshepiso Masalela (blue Nike hoodie with navy blue track pants) who took sixth place during last year's World Championship's 800m final. Photo Credit: Sepeng Project.

"We have settled in and now we want to perform because we are not here for a vacation. All seven of my athletes are ready to battle. Every athlete wants to win an Olympic medal but to do that they have to go through heats, semi-finals before starting to talk of a medal. We plant the seed of getting into the final because anything can happen in the final. It's for every athlete to win a medal once in the final. We don't want to put too much pressure on athletes by mentioning medals. The important thing is that they must reach the final first."