Dit was lekker om onlangs ʼn e-pos te ontvang van Tiaan Whelpton (2018), wat tans aan ʼn belowende atlektiekloopbaan in Nieu-Seeland bou. Tiaan skryf dis ʼn wonderlike voorreg om deel te wees van die Paul Roos familie en hy sien uit daarna om te kom kuier waneer hy in Suid-Afrika reis. Semper Splendidior! Ons deel graag die res van sy storie.
I’m a Paul Roos old boy that matriculated in 2018. During my time in Paul Roos I started my sprinting career under the watchful eye of coach Gregory Pieterson who laid the foundation for my success today.
Originally, I had been a jumps focused athlete and had narrowly missed out on going to SA nationals for triple jump in 2017. However, in 2018 I surprised everyone, including myself, when I won the 100m sprint at the PRG interhouse. Realizing there was some potential to for me to run fast I started focusing more on running and went on to take the Boland, Western Cape, and Western Province 100m titles and came 5th in the national finals.
After finishing school, I immigrated to New Zealand in December 2018, arriving midway through their season. I immediately started training again and in March that year I became the NZ u/20 100m champion. After my performance that season, I was recognised by Athletics NZ and invited to become a member of their High-Performance squad which granted me access to elite facilities and athlete development programs as well as world class coaching and support.
At this stage New Zealand also fast tracked my citizenship so that I would be eligible to represent the country on the world stage. Unfortunately, due to a hamstring injury my 2020 season did not go as planned but despite this setback I was able to run two major local races, taking out a gold in the 100m at the Capital Classic and then a Bronze in the Open Men’s 100m national final. My international season was sadly cut short by the Covid-19 restrictions.
Recently I was fortunate enough to be awarded a Sprinter of the Year award due to my outstanding performance and achieving what I did despite missing out all but two competitions in the domestic season. I was also congratulated on my ability to run so competitively during my first year of being in the open men’s age bracket at only 19 years old.
I very much look forward to running again this coming season with my eyes set on big competitions like World University Games, Oceania Games and World Relay Champs. I’m stronger and faster now than I’ve ever been before and my goal is to make it into the Diamond League circuit as well as to one day compete at the Olympics. Currently I’m training very hard while also being in my second year of a Geo-science degree at the University of Canterbury.
A huge thank you to Paul Roos for helping to kick off my sprinting career and laying the foundation for who I am today, as an athlete and a person.
Tiaan Whelpton
