THE sun blazes down on the athletics track as a trio of siblings stretch and warm up in preparation for their training session. Despite the heat Ellené (17), Jaco Jnr (15) and Emma-Lee (13) van der Westhuyzen are chilled on the track – it’s like second home to them.
Cornelda, the kids’ mom and coach, puts on her sunglasses, hangs her stopwatch around her neck and tells the kids to leap over a set of hurdles before pulling out starting blocks for their sprint sessions.
Their dad, former Springbok and Blue Bulls flyhalf Jaco, is on the sidelines, yelling encouragement at the teens as they go through their paces at Hoërskool Ben Viljoen in Groblersdal, Limpopo.
Cornelda laughs as she tells us the kids don’t like it when their dad attends their practice sessions. “He’s much stricter than I am,” she says. “If I see they’re getting tired I let them rest, but Jaco tells them to run another lap. But I understand why he’s like that. You can’t reach the pinnacle of sport like he did without hard work.”
The siblings’ hard work on the track has seen them break school records – but there’s no denying athletic talent runs in the family.
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