Long-serving South African sportsman, Paralympian Ernst van Dyk, will give an athlete’s angle on how the Olympic Games can play a major role in inspiring young stars to achieve at the highest level.
The 43-year-old wheelchair racer and handcyclist, who won the road cycling gold medal at the Rio Paralympics last year, will address the Western Cape Provincial Conference of Sport to be hosted by NMMU in George on Friday and Saturday.
The theme of the conference is Olympism and it will assess the influence of the Games on the development of sport.
Born in Ceres in the Western Cape, the sports science honours graduate from Stellenbosch University said the situation had changed completely since the Barcelona Games in 1992 when the Paralympians were still regarded as “social charity”.
“The Paralympics was not well supported and our manager had to go on television to spell out what it actually meant,” said Van Dyk, who was born with a congenital absence of both legs.
“The sports minister then said there was no funding for something he labelled as ‘social charity’.”
Now, Van Dyk, who won the Boston Marathon in the United States 10 times from 2001 to 2014, said the circumstances were completely different.
Rio Paralympics handcycle road race champion Ernst van Dyk will address the Provincial Sport Conference in George on Friday and Saturday from the athlete’s perspective. Photo: Supplied
“There is now great interest in the Paralympics. You get able-bodied sports people looking up to their disabled colleagues, holding them up as role models.
“That, to me, is one of the most significant effects the Olympics have had over the years.”
Having overcome many challenges during his career, Van Dyk will be speaking on sport from the athlete’s perspective.
“It will be a message for the conference delegates to see the effect a sporting profession has on our athletes,” he said.
“It will be about a career over a long period and the impact doing sport at a high level has on a human being.”
Van Dyk said sport played a major role in society.
“Even in retirement you need to stay healthy, to have a good body to house a good mind.
“Staying fit has always been part of my life, having studied sports science, as well as working in a gym for 15 years.
“I firmly believe it gives your life balance. You learn about discipline and you learn how to handle things when they go wrong.”
