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There were doubts that Anaso Jobodwana would not make the trip to the 2016 Rio Olympics due to a pelvic injury.
But the IAAF World Championship bronze medallist is ready and waiting to make a big statement at the Games.
He worked day and night to make sure that he recovered just in the nick of time to make the Team SA squad that was announced by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) last month.
The track and field event starts on Friday and ends on August 20, with Jobodwana scheduled to race in the 100m heats on Saturday.
Alongside Wayde van Niekerk, Caster Semenya and Rushwal Samaai, Jobodwana is a Team SA medal contender despite the injury concern.
“I have been communicating with the doctors about my injury and mentally I am ready. I am excited to be running, and now I am finally relaxed knowing that I made the team,” he said.
Jobodwana was also part of the 2012 London Games and will give debutants Akani Simbine, Clarence Munyai and Gift Leotlela – who are looking forward to their first Olympics – some much needed advice as they battle nerves in a packed 80 000-seater Olympic Stadium.
“I was young and scared in 2012 but now I’m more experienced and ready to lead the sprinters, even though athletics is an individual sport. I’m trying my best not to get carried away.”
And when racing the likes of superstar Usain Bolt, getting “carried away” is a real possibility.
“If I fail, it’s still part of the learning curve and it won’t be a train smash,” Jobodwana said.
He added that he does not want to sound arrogant, but the fact that he made it through a tough year spoke volumes about his mental strength.
“I’m not scared of anything and that really helped me a lot in my recovery.”
