Ansa Botha, also known as ‘Tannie Ans’ to her athletes – meaning Auntie in her first language Afrikaans, is a 74-year-old track and field coach at the University of the Free State (Kovsies).

^[-1]Botha, a great grandmother, is the coach of Olympic Champion and World record holder Wayde van Niekerk.

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Coaching Career

Originally from Namibia, Botha began coaching her son in the 1960s before branching out to other athletes in her area.

Despite her age, Botha claims to be very healthy:

"*I’m very blessed because I don’t have any health problems, and it is because I’m busy with young people – and you have to be high up there with them,’ the widow said.

‘My passion is too high to even think about that.*"^[4]

Botha began working with van Niekerk in 2013 after he had registered as a marketing major at the University of the Free State.

^[5] After discovering his potenial, Botha and van Niekerk have been planning to win the 400 meter dash at the 2016 Olympics since nearly 2013.

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Under her tutelage, Wayde van Niekerk has become the first sprinter to run under 44-seconds in the 400-meter dash, under 20-seconds in the 200-meter dash, and under 10-seconds in the 100-meter dash.

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