Meet Shaun Maswanganyi, South Africa's sprinting 'showman' coached by Carl Lewis
The blueprint to success track and field legend Carl Lewis mapped out for South Africa’s Shaun Maswanganyi seems to be going according to plan but will meet the ultimate test come Paris 2024.
Maswanganyi’s steady progress in the years since he joined Lewis in Houston has the hallmarks of a carefully considered plan aimed at future success instead of short-term gains.
The 23-year-old Maswanganyi is now reaping the benefits of what has effectively been a four-year build-up to ensure the short-sprint specialist’s body is tempered to perform at the highest level.
A two-hour phone call in which Lewis laid out his plans for the South African prospect ultimately sealed Maswanganyi’s move to the University of Houston in 2020.
“I knew what I needed to do (after the call) for me to reach that next level. What we spoke about in that call and those conversations, no other schools were speaking about,” Maswanganyi said in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com.
“Carl was talking about me coming into the programme, developing me, changing my running mechanics so I can be more efficient. It was going to take time to do the dirty work now instead of trying to change that later. Because when you keep getting injured you are going to wonder why you keep getting injured.”
Shaun Maswanganyi: Delayed but never denied
Maswanganyi joined Lewis’ programme off the back of some stellar performances including winning the 2019 African junior 200m title and setting the South African under-20 record in the 100m with a blistering time of 10.06 seconds. He barely turned 19 when he set the junior national record stopping the clock just 0.01s short of the qualifying time for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The global pandemic stunted what could have been a meteoric rise with Maswanganyi reaching Lewis’ training group ‘out of shape and underweight’. He effectively had to start ‘from scratch’ as Maswanganyi and his mentor went about putting in the foundational work that would pay off years later.
Maswanganyi posted some fast wind-aided times early in the outdoor season before he finally achieved double qualification in the 100m and 200m for Tokyo 2020. Although it took some rebuilding to reach his goal, Maswanganyi was not surprised about reaching the Olympics so early in his career.
“I was working towards qualifying, I mean I ran 10.06 to set the South African record. I was pretty close to the Olympic standard which was 10.05,” he said.
“I was excited and boom, Covid shut me down. I was upset about that but it kind of opened my eyes that I could have been an Olympian at 19. Delayed but never denied.”
Shaun Maswanganyi: From euphoric highs to desperate lows
Maswanganyi admits that he initially suffered from ‘imposter syndrome’ when he lined up in his maiden race at the Olympic Games, but his results suggested otherwise. The Soweto-born sprinter raced with the swagger and confidence akin to a seasoned Olympic veteran reaching the semi-finals in both the 100m and 200m. He finished third in his 200m and sixth in the 100m semi-final narrowly missing out on the finals.
“You get that sense of imposter syndrome where you feel like "I should not be here’. I had that sense of feeling at my first Olympics despite my performances,” said Maswanganyi.
“When I got to the line running the semi-finals, I was like, 'Oh, okay, I've arrived'. That’s kind of that moment where I realise I deserve to be here.”
The euphoric highs of 2021 made way for some desperate low points the following year with the death of Maswanganyi’s cousin whom he grew up with as a brother. The untimely death of Ndivhuwo Tebogo Moira at the age of 29 left Maswanganyi with serious internal strife. Maswanganyi ultimately decided to stay in the United States instead of attending his brother’s funeral.
While the decision to commit to his studies and track programme weighed heavy on his heart, Maswanganyi found some comfort from Lewis who lost his father to cancer in 1987.
“I couldn't fly back, because in my heart I knew that they would have wanted me just to keep competing and keep repping the family flag and the family name,” Maswanganyi said.
“Coach Carl shared his experience and story with me when he lost his father and how he had to go to a funeral and fly the next day for a race. He's been through that.”
To add to a turbulent year, Maswanganyi’s debut at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon ended in disappointment following a hamstring injury in the 200m heats.
Shaun Maswanganyi: Breaking through
Maswanganyi put it all in the rear-view mirror to make some breakthroughs both in terms of fast times and reaching the podium in 2023. Maswanganyi legitimately dipped below 10 seconds in the 100m semi-final at the NCAA for the first time with a time of 9.99s and also went sub-20 in the 200m on the same day. He became only the second South African behind Akani Simbine to dip under 10 seconds in the 100m and 20 seconds 200m on the same day.
Two days later, Maswanganyi became the second fastest South African sprinter behind national record holder Simbine winning the NCAA bronze medal in a time of 9.91s.
The rising star added more silverware behind his name finishing as runner-up in the men’s 100m final at the World University Games in Chengdu.
“On the day of the semi-finals and final (in Chengdu) I had food poisoning, but I still managed to run 10.06 and I came second,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the food poisoning sickness kind of lingered into World Champs and I was still not feeling good. I was too weak. I had lost a lot of weight, and my body was still trying to bounce back. So, I didn't perform the way I wanted to.”
Maswanganyi bowed out of his second World Championships reaching the semi-final in the 200m and the final of the men’s 4x100m relay where a dropped baton ultimately cost South Africa.
Shaun Maswanganyi: "I am here to entertain people"
Reaching the final countdown towards his second Olympic appearance, Maswanganyi has cut back on his racing. He has already made a promising start to his season setting a South African short track 200m record with a time of 20.41s.
Maswanganyi will soon turn professional which will signal the next phase of his plan to ‘become bigger than the sport’.
“I don't want to be known as 'Oh, Shaun you ran fast'. I want to be known as someone who motivates and influences people to reach their goals and aspirations,” he said.
"I also want to be known as a winner. I want to win when I compete. I want to win and solidify my legacy on and off the track. I want to be a pillar. I want to be someone's motivation.”
While Maswanganyi is nurturing grand plans for his future and takes seriously the steps to reach his goals he is by no means all business and no play.
Maswanganyi preaches the doctrine that stars like Noah Lyles, Letsile Tebogo and Erriyon Knighton seem to espouse.
“Athletics-wise, I was doing this even back home before the limelight, I always just had fun with it,” Maswanganyi said.
“I was always a showman before an athlete. I'm here to entertain people. I feel like that's why a lot of people appreciated me in college and a lot of our fans appreciated me because I brought a little bit of a vibe to it.”
- As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
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