What’s next for athletics champion, Bayanda Walaza?
The world's fastest teenager, Bayanda Walaza, shares his plans for the future after passing matric.
South Africa’s star sprinter and the world’s fastest teenager, Bayanda Walaza, completed his 2024 matric year with a Bachelor's admission and shared exciting details about his plans.
In case you’ve forgotten Bayanda’s insane achievement, he
made history at Stade de France during the 2024 Paris Olympics, alongside Akani
Simbine, Bradley Nkoana and Shaun Maswanganyi.
Bayanda decided to forgo his 2024 matric preliminary examinations to compete in the Paris Olympics – a sacrifice that paid off immensely. As part of team South Africa, he helped secure a silver medal in the 4x100m relay, setting an African record with an incredible time of 37.75 seconds.
After the Paris Olympics, Bayanda made history once again by winning gold at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru. He stormed across the finish line in just 10.19 seconds, narrowly beating Thailand's Puripol Boonson, who clocked a time of 10.22 seconds.
He is literally the fastest teenager on the
planet.
Now, with his matric certificate in hand, Bayanda has his eyes set on furthering his studies while training to become one of the best athletes in South Africa.
In an interview with SABC News, Bayanda shared how nerve-wracking it was waiting for his matric results, admitting that the anticipation was even more intense than the pressure he felt competing in Paris.
“I’m impressed with how I did… with these results, I’m planning to study Logistics,” he said.
While he’s excited to pursue a career in logistics, Bayanda made it clear that his journey on the athletics track is far from over.
Despite receiving multiple offers to advance his athletic career in the United States, he is focusing on his ultimate goal: becoming one of South Africa’s top athletes.
“I want to show up for the country and to fight for it. Fighting for the country is not just going into war but it’s also representing it. I’m still going to continue from where I started. God gave me this gift to showcase to the world,” he said.
Still following the matric results trail, SABC's Harry Olivier catches up with Bayanda Walaza, SA athlete, at Curro Hazeldean High School. pic.twitter.com/xwJD4TjlQh
— SABC News (@SABCNews) January 13, 2025
The future looks bright for Bayanda, and Mzansi expects only great things from him.
As he leaves the confines of school and heads out into the world, he now faces the challenge of proving himself as one of the greatest to ever exist – on and off the track.
ALSO READ: What to do next if you fail matric?
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