South Africa rising sprinter Bayanda Walaza has opened up about the false start scare during the final of the men’s 4X100m relay at the World Relays in China last week.
Fresh from winning gold in the men’s 4x100m relay, Walaza has opened up about the emotional rollercoaster he experienced moments before the race.
Speaking after arriving back home, Walaza admitted that fear nearly got the better of him just before the starting gun.
“I’ll say fear overtook my body,” he said. “I lost something my mom told me—that I must not be afraid. But at that moment, I believed we could actually win this, and I think I got too excited. Then fear kicked in.”
Bayanda Walaza described how the adrenaline in the call room and at the start line overwhelmed him.
“I had too much adrenaline, and I wasn’t used to that. I wanted to burst out fast because I knew we had the capability to win. But at the same time, I was scared. That fear made my body twitch. I really wanted to move—my adrenaline was saying, ‘Go!’ But I thank the Lord that I didn’t. I could control how I was feeling, and that’s what I’m grateful for.”
Had he false-started, the South African team would have been disqualified. But Walaza held his nerve at the most critical moment.
Walaza was disqualified for the same offence in the 200m final at the national championships in Potchefstroom recently and promised not to repeat the mistake.
When asked if his teammates said anything afterward, he revealed they showed nothing but support.
“They came to me and said I gave them a heart attack,” Walaza said with a smile. “But what I love about this team is that they didn’t make me feel down. They weren’t angry—they made jokes just to cheer me up. Even though we won gold, they saw I wasn’t mentally okay because I felt I almost cost us everything. They made sure I stayed in my comfort zone.”
The gold medal was a proud moment for Walaza and Team South Africa, who proved that emotional resilience and unity are just as vital as speed on the track. The team booked its place in the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo, coming September this year.
