After breaking her 200 metre race varsity record during her final outing at the Varsity Athletics in Pretoria on 23 March, Justine Palframan (24) took time to reflect on her achievements and how she got her smile back after a period of fatigue and a dip in performance and confidence.
The athlete will no longer be able to participate in Varsity Athletics as she is turning 25 this year, thus reaching the age limit.
The Matie athlete broke her varsity record in the 200m sprint after winning the Varsity Athletics final by 23.23 seconds. Palframan stated that after her performance and confidence levels waned in 2015 and 2016, coming first during the final was a sign of great progress in overcoming mental and physical obstacles.
“I had a dip in performance and confidence and this just shows how far I’ve come. Now I believe in myself and I’m back where I need to be- I’m having fun.”
Justine Palframan at the Varsity Athletics Championships in Pretoria. PHOTO: Trevlyn Palframan.
Palframan explained that her performance had plunged due to fatigue after she came first during the 400m race at the Summer Universiade games and made it to the 200m semi-finals of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in 2015.
“I just had a competition too many and I hit a dip. I was tired and demotivated. I lost confidence in myself and I no longer had the passion for running. I was ready to give up.”
Her journey to recovery included getting in touch with her religious side and putting less pressure on herself to do well.
“This is a talent that I have been given and it’s my way to glorify and show God. I got distracted and I started running for me when it is about running for God. When I realised that, the pressure was off me, because whether I perform well or not, He will still love me either way.”
Palframan’s coach, Suzanne Ferreira, expressed pride in her athlete for overcoming the several challenges she faced along the way. “As a coach, the journey with an athlete is an enormous privilege. Success at a championships or a single performance is only a small part of the journey,” she said.
“My feelings of deep joy and gratitude that I felt were not only because of the moment of success, but the result of journeying with her as a person and growing as a human being towards this moment over 15 months. To see her overcoming so many challenges was really special,” said Ferreira.
She also explained that Palframan has the ability to connect deeply with people and has identified her training group’s support as a great source of motivation for the athlete.
Palframan shared the same sentiment about her training group and the impact the members have had on her.
Justine Palframan broke her varsity record in the 200 metre sprint by winning in 23.32 seconds. PHOTO: William Brown.
“I have training partners who I run with and that made life easier. By the end of the warm-up I am having so much fun. So it wasn’t about going to training because I liked running, but I liked my training partners and I found that love again for running,” said Palframan.
“Step by step, through them being there and motivating me and my family being there and all my friends being so supportive, it brought me back on the right track,” she added.