Olympics delayed, but athlete is not despondent
Steeplechasers don’t let obstacles get in their way. They fly over them. Ashley Smith, 23, from Eastridge in Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town, has been overcoming obstacles for most of his life.
Steeplechase athlete Ashley Smith’s Tokyo Olympic dreams are on hold, but he is using the lockdown to focus on his university degree and the extra year to reach peak fitness.
He credits his father, a warehouse manager with whom he lives, for the direction in his life. “There aren’t many role-models in Eastridge to look up to. My father wasn’t one of those who drank alcohol with their sons.” While the cancellation of South Africa’s athletics season, and the postponement of the international Olympic Games, is a setback, Smith says it’s also an opportunity to focus on coming back even stronger. “The plan was prolong the local season, and peak at the right time. Now, we are taking the postponement of the Olympics as an advantage because it gives us an extra year to reach our peak.” Smith is one of South Africa’s elite steeplechasers. Last season, his first on the European circuit, saw him improve his best time for the 3000mrace by 24 seconds to 8 minutes and 33 seconds. This year, another 10-second improvement would have seen him qualify for the Olympic Games in Japan. He was well on track and supremely confident of getting there. Then the lockdown came… Speaking to the quietly spoken Smith leaves little room for doubt that he will achieve his goals. Coached by South African steeplechase record-holder, Ruben Ramolefi, mainly by Whatsapp, he’s using the lockdown to get ahead with his studies – he’s studying for a BA degree at UWC – while doing some strength and conditioning work at home.
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