Home is clearly where the heart is for SA Olympic sprint star Bayanda Walaza

Comment by Ashfak Mohamed

We were all holding thumbs for Bayanda Walaza when he lined up in lane seven for the 4x100m relay final at the Paris Olympics last August.

The 18-year-old matric pupil was facing the biggest moment of his athletics career, and despite being so young, he was undeterred.

With a wet Olympic stadium track – and a few drops still falling when the race started – Walaza stormed through the opening leg in 10.41 seconds to place South Africa fourth, which was a great effort as he was up against Christian Coleman (USA), Aaron Brown (Canada) and Jeremiah Azu (Great Britain and Northern Ireland), amongst others.

Shaun Maswanganyi and Bradley Nkoana maintained SA’s position as they were fifth when Akani Simbine got the baton for the final leg, and the national record-holder produced the run of his life to claim the silver medal in a new African record of 37.57, behind champions Canada (37.50).

Mzansi rejoiced in celebration, and the lives of the two teenagers in particular, Walaza and Nkoana, was going to change forever.

Nkoana was already a first-year student at North-West University in Potchefstroom, but Walaza was in Grade 12 at Curro Hazeldean in Pretoria.

So, the world was at Walaza’s feet as to where he would continue his athletics career – having also secured gold medals in the 100m and 200m at the world junior championships last year.

This week, after he matriculated with a Bachelor’s pass – including a distinction in isiZulu – the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) announced that the sprinter would be joining them to study supply chain management, stating that “Walaza chose to study at TUT despite offers from some internationally-based universities”.

“TUT is not just a university: it is a community of champions,” Walaza said. “I’m excited to be part of an environment that values academic and athletic excellence. I am determined to move from good to great in both.”

The TUT vice-chancellor and principal, Professor Tinyiko Maluleke, added: “TUT is ready to help this indomitable South African athlete accomplish his loftiest academic dreams.”

However, Walaza’s decision to opt for TUT above overseas universities and even local institutions such as University of Pretoria and University of Johannesburg was met with criticism on social media.

Some Walaza fans felt that he should’ve opted for one of the more established varsities, especially with regards to their sporting programmes.

But the man himself has said previously that he wanted to stay at home instead of going to the US colleges, and that would also allow him to continue working with his Curro athletics coach Thabo ‘Coach T’ Matebedi.

His family and coach would have pored over all the different offers, and TUT is the place where he wants to forge ahead with his studies and athletics progress.

Staying in SA also aided Simbine, who developed his talent at the University of Pretoria and with coach Werner Prinsloo.

Of course, Maswanganyi went to the University of Houston straight from matriculating at St Alban’s College in Pretoria, and competing on the relentless college circuit under the coaching of none other than US legend Carl Lewis has seen him been successful at two Olympic Games.

But going overseas is not necessarily the right path for every athlete, with swimming legend Penny Heyns often having spoken about the challenges she had to deal with after deciding to join the University of Nebraska, especially being home sick.

So, home is clearly where the heart is for Walaza, and may he continue to prosper and bring home several medals over the next two decades.