SAMMY'S
setting the pace for
OLYMPIC
GREATS
Staff member
Sammy Sepeng (left) started working with Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya in 2015.
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SAMMY keeps a fast pace
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out
of the starting blocks
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Taking the
next
step
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GOING FOR GOLD
Sammy keeps a fast pace
Sammy Sepeng exudes joy, pure and unadulterated and reflected by an infectious smile. The 29-year-old is also a livewire, always seen darting in and out of the Marketing and Communication office at the Potchefstroom Campus where he works.
He keeps a fast pace; just ask Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya, with whom he started working in 2015. Even before that, Sammy knew something about Olympic glory. As the younger brother of Hezekiél Sepeng, he can still vividly recall the winter’s night in 1996 when his brother won silver in the 800 metres.
“It was such a happy day,” says Sammy, who was born and raised in Potchefstroom. “I was very young, but I remember the entire family coming to watch the event with us. When my brother made the finals I knew that anything was possible. We stayed awake the entire night!” he exclaims. “My brother, Zieks, is my role model. I always wanted to be like him, and I still do. We are very close and contact each other about four times a week.”
out
of the starting blocks
It all began in 2013 when he started helping European athletes with their pacing under the tutelage of Jean Verster, manager of the NWU’s High Performance Institute in Potchefstroom and Caster’s head coach.
At the time, Sammy was working with Nigel Amos, the Botswana-born middle-distance runner who won silver at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Then, in 2015, Caster approached Sammy about helping her with her pacing. Career-wise she was at a low point, but together they set their goals and decided to push themselves to the limit to put Caster back on a winning streak.
Out of the starting blocks
Taking the
next
step
Taking the next step
Zieks convinced him to follow in his footsteps, and his faith in Sammy was soon justified. Sammy is an exceptional football player and athlete (especially in the 400 metres), with junior national colours in both sports codes.
Then, in August last year, he relived the euphoria of his brother’s Olympic win when a certain golden girl ran the race of her life in Rio de Janeiro, bringing home gold in the 800 metres.
“Watching that final and seeing Caster take that last 100 metres... I struggle to find the words for what I felt. All that planning that went into it – it was like seeing a dream come true.”
Going for gold
“I didn’t want to put unnecessary pressure on Caster because she had plenty of that already. I told her that we must work forward, not backwards. She already had an Olympic silver, so there was only one way to go from there. We put our trust and belief in each other and she gave it her all. Caster is such a nice person with so much dedication,” he says fondly.
Sammy remains as modest as ever. “I’m still learning and it is wonderful to work with athletes such as Caster and Nigel. But my aspiration is to train young athletes and develop them into superstars. I want to be a great coach, like Jean. It is an unbelievable experience to work with and learn from someone like him. The university is where I belong and Marketing and Communication my home. I love what I do and I’m never bored, as I meet a lot of people and am constantly learning about marketing.”
He is husband to wife Alinah and they have two sons, seven-year old Thato and 10-month old Mzamo. “I like nothing better than playing with my boys and being in the company of my wife. I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what I have without them.”
Another great joy is tinkering with his car. “If I can take the engine out of my car and change the rings, I am a very happy man.”
Indeed. If there is one thing that Sammy Sepeng can do better than most, it’s making something run faster and stronger for longer.
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