South Africa’s Elfriede Wolfaardt overcame illness as her team set a national record in their track performance at the Commonwealth Games in the Anna Meares Velodrome, Gold Coast, over the weekend.
Wolfaardt was in the SA team that took part in the women’s team pursuit, and although falling out in the qualifying round she said she was satisfied with the result under the circumstances.
The South African women’s track team at the Commonwealth Games from left Adelia Neethling, Elfriede Wolfaardt, Annerine Wenhold (coach), Charlene du Preez, Ilze Bole and Danielle van Niekerk (reserve). Photo: Supplied
She endured an illness scare en route to Australia, Wolfaardt said. “When we arrived in Johannesburg I got flu symptoms; I felt a bit sick.
“It was very cold and rainy there [in Johannesburg],” she said. “Then on our flight from Joburg to Sydney I struggled on the last part of the flight with sickness.
“Fortunately when I went to the doctor the next day I was told I was just suffering from allergies.
“I battled in my track sessions [leading up to the event] to get ready and into my rhythm, and even to be part of the team.
“Our track sessions were also limited because we had to share with the Aussies. We only had one-hour-and-45-minute sessions each day.”
The team then took part in the 4 000-metre team pursuit qualifier over 16 laps, where they finished sixth, setting a new national record of 4:51.22.
“On race day everything was a bit more relaxed,” Wolfaardt said. “I tried not to focus on the other teams or the audience. I kept my focus on what I needed to do.
“We got off to a bit of a slow start in the first half of the race. Our lap times were not consistent, so that was a bit difficult for me to handle at first.
“Past the halfway mark we began riding more consistently and I was fortunate enough to keep up the pace following the rider in front of me.
“After making two pulls I was confident I would still finish. I was feeling strong. From there on I was able to deliver Charlene du Preez [behind her] until the finish.
“Our time stabilised and it was awesome for me to just be in the top three when we finished.”
She was satisfied that they had managed to beat all previous national records, Wolfaardt said.
“We smashed our old record [at the Commonwealth Games] and we also beat our qualifying time in Malaysia held in December by three seconds, which was huge.
“I am very happy with the team’s performance considering we did not have many training hours together and all of the other challenges we had to face leading up to the Games.
“If we put more effort and time into it [preparing] then we can still improve,” she said. “But up until this point this was the best we could have done and we are thrilled with the result.”
View the results here.
