In many countries, certain sports are king. In a vast majority it’s football, in the Philippines basketball rules, Pakistan and India are cricket crazy and in China table tennis dominates the agenda.
In South Africa it’s rugby, but Henri Schoeman fell in love with triathlon. His brother is a former Olympic swimmer, while his father and coach Joe is a keen runner and cyclist, so it’s not that difficult to see why.
What’s more gruelling is forging a path to greatness, but the 25-year-old is on it. He won triathlon bronze in Rio earlier this year and is plotting International Triathlon Federation World Series domination in 2017.
I’m really proud of that. It was the first Olympic triathlon medal for a South African so it was a great thing to achieve. As an athlete you always want to go into a race wanting to win. I was going for a medal but the top five was a realistic goal, so a medal was a bonus.
I wanted to use this Olympics as experience for the next. I’ll be in my prime in four years, so to win a medal in Rio was just a bonus and I’m really happy for that.
It’s been a great blessing to get that medal earlier than expected. I still want to build and I still have plans to win the World Series, I want to be world champion.
Definitely in four or eight years’ time I want to take that top step, that’s a goal of mine. I want to use the experience and confidence of Rio.
I’m going to work on my running, you end with the run so you want to have the fastest run. As a weak link in my repertoire it’s definitely something I’ve been working on and something I’m going to continue working on, to become one of the best runners in the sport. If I can do that the other achievements will come.
Back to the grind .. 5k circuits 🏃🏼@ASICS_ZA pic.twitter.com/JkL1FctiyG
— Henri Schoeman (@H_Schoeman) November 23, 2016
It’s really good. We had a strong performance at the Olympics with third and fourth and it shows we’re on the map. It’s great exposure for the country as we don’t really have a strong following here.
The Olympics gave us a lot of exposure so now lots more people are asking questions about it, so it’s great. Hopefully it will boom over the next few years and a lot more youngsters will get involved.
We’re good friends, especially when I first came onto the World Series. Richard was my room-mate a couple of times. We get along and it’s great having him around. He put triathlon on the map for South Africa first so it’s great for the country.
I want to start how I finished, with a medal. After the off-season you kind of never know where you are with your preparations, if you’re behind or building up, because it’s a long year. It’s hard to judge but it’s a key race for all athletes to see where they are.
Abu Dhabi is often the most competitive field and it’s usually a big test after the off-season.
I’ve been here the last two years. It’s a great experience with the weather. It showcases the best of the capital as an international destination. The attractions and facilities are awesome, it’s such a scenic area.
On the podium: With Britain’s Brownlee brothers.
It’s never the best way to win a race. I felt gutted for Jonny that he had those issues at the end of the race, but a race is a race and you have to time your nutrition and energy level expenditure.
It’s all a part of racing and I guess he mistimed that. Maybe he was under pressure as he’s never had me up there running with him before, maybe he felt like he had to attack and it cost him his race. But it was a great feeling for me to win.
I’m the fourth person ever to win a World Series Grand Final, Javier Gomez, Alistair Brownlee and Mario Mola are the only other ones, so to be up there with those names is quite an achievement.
There’s a few. The big two are winning the Grand Final and third place in the Olympics. Also finishing fourth in the WTS rankings at the end of the year. Commonwealth Games silver medal in the team relay in 2014 and winning a World Cup in Tongyeong in 2014.
Either Hamburg or Stockholm. Stockholm, I really like the history with the buildings and the views. Hamburg it’s because of the spectators. There’s thousands of them around the course which is a really cool vibe when you race.
I enjoy video editing. I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend and friends, and I like walking on the beach. Simple things.
My brother Riaan was a swimmer. He went to the Olympics in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, competing in the 400m individual medley. It’s in the blood. He retired after London so now I’m carrying it on.
Growing up, my dad was always a sporty person, involved in lots of running and cycling. We were always involved with swimming so eventually I wanted to reach out with running and cycling and at 18 I thought maybe it could be a path for me.
Join a club and make it fun, learn with your friends. Get involved with races, challenge yourself and have fun with it.
Running. I’m very passionate about it. When I was a boy I used to run quite a bit, dad was running on the track. I think it’s in me.
