Slovakia's Jan Volko, South Africa's Shaun Maswanganyi, Japan's Abdul Hakim Sani Brown and Trinidad and Tobago's Jereem Richards compete in the men's 200m heats during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo FILE. Shaun Maswanganyi (centre) reflected on having sprint legend Carlos Lewis as his guide and how much that has helped with his performance ahead of the Paris Olympics. Picture: Giuseppe Ccace/AFP
South African sprinter Shaun Maswanganyi is reaching greater heights in his career, as the 23-year-old set a new sprint record in the USA in February.
Clocking 20.41 seconds at an indoor track and field meet in Texas which was an SA record, the young runner has shown that he has more than “potential” and a hunger to succeed.
When it comes down to it though, good mentorship also forms an integral part of managing talent and Maswanganyi has that in his coach, American former Olympic champion Carl Lewis. Winning nine Olympic gold medals in a career spanning from 1979 to 1996, Lewis made history and is generally regarded as one of the best athletes of all time.
Maswanganyi reflected on having Lewis as his guide and how much that has helped with his performance.
The fastest all-condition 100m time of the year! 🔥
— RoriDunk (@FitzDunk) May 24, 2024
Louie Hinchliffe ran 9.84 and not far behind was his teammate Shaun Maswanganyi with 9.89 🤯
They're cooking up something special in Houston
pic.twitter.com/DubLOoYgO3
“To have Carl Lewis as a coach is definitely special. I speak about it all the time, he’s more than just a coach to me. He’s more than a mentor. He’s a father figure in many aspects,” Maswanganyi told SportsBoom.com.
Maswanganyi said their relationship doesn’t end after practice sessions, and Lewis is someone that he can lean on even outside of the sport.
The young runner compared his relationship with Lewis to the one he had with his high school coach, whom he credits for getting him to where he is today, and he sought a similar type of dynamic with the American track and field legend.
“It came naturally and that’s the thing that I am most grateful about. You know, trials and tribulations just made our relationship ever so stronger, and to have a legend like that coach you is very special,” he explained.
“He’s always there for me, and at the end of the day he’s done everything that I probably aspire to do in athletics. So he’s the man for the job and I’m just grateful to have him in my life. I just pray that our relationship just keeps getting stronger and stronger, and he keeps being my mentor on and off the track.”
Maswanganyi is currently preparing for the 2024 Olympic Games which will be held in Paris from July to August and he will be hoping to improve from the Tokyo Games three years ago.
As for the record he recently set, the Olympian noted that it was a work in progress because he was not accustomed to running indoors in South Africa, so he had to adjust to a different challenge.
“It’s not as easy as it may sound because there’s a lot of technicalities when it comes to indoor racing and you’ve got to run the race more to gain experience,” he said.
Before setting the record, Maswanganyi explained that he kept at it and beat his own personal records before finally reaching his goal. As he developed more on a personal level, he spoke to Lewis, and they worked together because he believed that he could actually match the record that existed at the time.
“We just tried to become more technical with the 200m indoors and in doing so I was able to go out there and execute. Overall, I am grateful for my coach and I’m grateful for the consistency, everything comes in due time.”
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