Twenty Years To Tokyo

MANDIE BRANDT ONCE REPRESENTED SOUTH AFRICA AS A JUNIOR IN THE 800M. TWENTY YEARS ON, SHE’S STILL RUNNING PBS – WHEN MOST OF HER PEERS HAVE LONG SINCE RETIRED. IF BRANDT QUALIFIES FOR THE SUMMER 2020 OLYMPICS, SHE WILL INSPIRE WOMEN RUNNERS EVERYWHERE.

- Lisa Abdellah

It’s an age-old scenario: the majority of promising young women athletes compete at junior level, maybe even a little at university. Then comes marriage and children, and they stop running competitively altogether. Which is sad, because it means they never reach their full potential. But to 800m runner Mandie Brandt, life is about finding balance, without losing sight of your own goals.

As she prepares to qualify for the next Olympics in Tokyo, the 35-year-old from Pretoria (now living in Cape Town) hopes to become living proof of that. She’s a five-time medallist (three-time silver medallist) in the 800m at the South African National Senior Track and Field Championships. She’s run PBs in the 800m, 1500m and 1000m, all within the last four years, and is a former South African student (USSA) champion in the 800m and 1500m.

We meet Brandt at the Green Point Athletics Stadium in Cape Town, where she has just finished a brutal training session with her coach (and husband-to-be), Sean Snyman. We watch video footage of her racing down the finishing straight in the 800m event at the South African National Track and Field Championships – just a few seconds behind Caster Semenya (Brandt’s PB: 2.04.2). The grace with which her legs turn over on the track and her focused expression are nothing short of mesmerising.

Brandt’s ambition to qualify for the next Olympics is unwavering. Not only has she spent her entire life preparing for it; she has given up her day job to give herself the best possible chance of achieving it, despite the fact that she has no sponsors.

She’s running faster times now than she did in her youth. But how does she intend to run fast enough to become an Olympian?

RW: Were you a runner at school?