AS AN athlete he knows when it’s time to dig deep and push himself, even when his muscles are at breaking point and his lungs are on fire.
It’s this mentality and perseverance that has helped Ernst van Dyk become one of the greatest wheelchair athletes the world has ever seen.
Over the past three decades Ernst (50) has received one accolade after the next, including 10 Boston Marathon wheelchair titles and eight Paralympic medals.
As he stormed his way to glory, it seldom occurred to him the day would come when he’d be ready to retire.
But true champions know when to quit, he tells us as we chat to him at his office in Kraaifontein, near Cape Town.
Over the past few years he’s become painfully aware that he’s a lot older than his fellow competitors, he explains.
“I haven’t been competing against anyone my age, only 17- and 18-yearolds,” he says.
Since being promoted to a new role as managing director at Össur South Africa – a company that manufactures orthopaedic equipment – in 2021 he’s had less time to train and this has had a noticeable effect on his performance.
“I had to fight for a spot in the top 20 in races.
It wasn’t fun because I knew it wasn’t my full potential,” he says.
Eventually came the moment of reckoning.
“I asked myself if I wanted to compete with one foot in and one foot out, and I chose to rather do something else.”
But he couldn’t just quit – he needed one last hurrah so the South African committed to competing in four final marathons before bowing out at the end of the year.
ãã®èšäºã¯ YOU South Africa ã® 22 June 2023 çã«æ²èŒãããŠããŸãã
7 æ¥éã® Magzter GOLD ç¡æãã©ã€ã¢ã«ãéå§ããŠãäœåãã®å³éžããããã¬ãã¢ã ã¹ããŒãªãŒã9,000 以äžã®éèªãæ°èã«ã¢ã¯ã»ã¹ããŠãã ããã
ãã§ã«è³Œèªè ã§ã ?  ãµã€ã³ã€ã³
ãã®èšäºã¯ YOU South Africa ã® 22 June 2023 çã«æ²èŒãããŠããŸãã
7 æ¥éã® Magzter GOLD ç¡æãã©ã€ã¢ã«ãéå§ããŠãäœåãã®å³éžããããã¬ãã¢ã ã¹ããŒãªãŒã9,000 以äžã®éèªãæ°èã«ã¢ã¯ã»ã¹ããŠãã ããã
ãã§ã«è³Œèªè ã§ã? ãµã€ã³ã€ã³
BALLON IN THE BAG
Manchester City midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante says his Ballon d'Or win is a victory for Spanish football
IT WAS ALL A LIE
A new doccie exposes the Grey's Anatomy writer who fabricated her life story
'I WILL NEVER GIVE UP'
After her husband, anticorruption activist Alexei Navalny, was poisoned and murdered by the Kremlin, she became the public face of Russia's opposition. In this candid interview Yulia Navalnaya opens up about life on the run, her perilous family life and why she's continuing her husband's fight to save their country
AGREE TO DISAGREE
Trevor Noah on how his childhood squabbles with his mother inspired his delightful new book
PAUSE THE CLOCK
Researchers have discovered that the ageing process spikes at 44 and 60. Here's what you can do to slow it down
MPOOMY ON TOP
We chat to SA's most popular female podcaster about love, loss and her booming success
MY BROTHER IS NOT TO BLAME
Tinus Drotské says his sibling, ex Bok NÇka, is the victim in the brawl with a neighbour that landed up in court
MATT THE RECLUSE
A year after his friend's tragic death, the actor continues to shun the spotlight
A LEAP OF FAITH
After her husband tried to kill her by tampering with her parachute she thought she'd never trust a man again-but now she's found love
THEY'RE MY KIDS!
This West Coast woman treats her monkeys as iftheyre humans and animal activists are not happy about it