The further, the better is the South African hammer throw champion Colette Uys’ goal for 2025.
Last week in Potchefstroom, she sent the iron ball flying through the air for a whopping 65.84 metres. With the throw, the Tuks medical student established herself as the second-best hammer thrower of all time in South Africa. Her winning effort is 1.53 metres further than her previous best. Leandri Holtzhausen’s South African record is 66.11 metres.
In 2022, Phethisang Makhethe threw 65.40 metres, and in 2021, Marga Cumming set a personal best by throwing 64.60 metres.
Uys has already competed three times this year. At the first event, she threw 61 metres, then 64.08, and then the big throw happened. She will compete again at Pilditch this weekend.
The first thing that strikes you when you see Uys is that she is much thinner than last year.
“I have lost 20kg over the past 12 months, and that is because I have been training very hard in the gym. I also eat less than I used to eat in the USA. South African food is healthier than American food anyway. It also helps that I eat homemade food and not takeaways.
“My weight loss is an advantage in hammer throw and discus because I am now faster in the circle. I also feel ‘snappier’, but it is detrimental to me in shot put. In shot put, it is all about the more weight you can put behind the ball, the better. I have definitely lost strength. I now ‘bench’ less than before.”
Uys is one of the few field athletes who competes in three of the four athletic throwing events. At last year’s South African Championships, she won the hammer throw and was third in the shot put. At the South African Student Championships, she won the hammer throw and shot put and was second in the discus. Uys finished third in the shot put at the African Championships.
“I know I’m going to have to make a decision. At most, I can compete in two of the three events. I will obviously compete in the hammer throw. Choosing between the other two events is difficult. The distances I throw during training indicate that I could be one of the top three in South Africa. The problem is that I don’t throw the same distances in competition. I like the shot put more, but I’m in Athletics South Africa’s provisional World Championship team as a discus thrower. So I’m expected to perform in discus.”
Uys has also started coaching, and she enjoys it a lot. Unfortunately, this also creates problems.
“During a competition, I can’t watch what my opponents are doing. I turn my back on them because I pick up their mistakes when I look at their technique. I know what they need to do to throw further. It throws me off my game. When I have to throw, I repeat the mistakes I identified.”
