UJ Athletics has won the Varsity Cup and became the new Varsity Athletics Champions 2016 with the combined scores. Among the Gold medallists was the BTech Transport Management Student Jeromy Andreas winning the 1-mile for men with a time of 4:04.35.
Jeromy is a 24-year old Faculty of Management (UJ) from Eerste River Cape Town. He attended Forest Heights High School and started cross country when he was in Grade 5, and that is where his passion for athletics started. He has been an athlete for almost 15 years and his biggest accomplishment in this sport is to get a chance to represent our great country. He believes his talent is God-given and that athletics play a big role in his life in improving his character.
When competing, “my focus is only on the race, but such focus comes with a lot of hard work”, says Jeromy. His training includes a 25 km run every day, never taking a day off and always giving 100%. His ultimate achievement thus far was when he won the Russian 5 km world competition in 2103. When he won the seasoned road runners competition in Durban, he said that it was not his intention to win at all but just to gain experience – he did not only surprise all of us but he surprised himself as well. He prefers not to set goals because things do not always work out as he plans, but he works for opportunities that might come his way, and he ensures that he is always ready when that opportunity knocks on his door. Even though he still experiences many challenges in life, he tries to always remain positive and make the best of a tough situation.
His father is his inspiration, because he was a hardworking man from North West, and has worked hard for his family; no matter how difficult it was, there was always a plate of food on the table. He sees it as a privilege and a great opportunity to be studying at the University of Johannesburg, especially in the Faculty of Management. His personal dreams or goals include getting an opportunity to compete in the Olympics and to achieve his master’s or doctorate degree one day. His motto in life is that God has his back through thick and thin. His advice to other hopefuls is to always follow your dream and to never ever allow anyone to put limitations on your dreams.
Meeting and talking to Jeromy was a great honour and privilege. Jeromy is an extremely humble, kind and friendly person. The light of life shines in his eyes, there is hope in his heart, determination in his soul and we truly hope to see him compete in the Olympics in the near future.
