South African triathlon star and 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Henri Schoeman admitted he felt “incredible” after competing at Challenge Roth following 18 months of questioning his professional career.
The 33-year-old has struggled to showcase his abilities during the past two seasons and although on the surface a 44th place finish at Challenge Roth may not appear to arrest concerns to the casual observer, Schoeman was overjoyed to be competing over the full distance for the first time.
“At the beginning of the year, a goal I set for myself was to debut in the long distance and why not at the Home of Triathlon – Roth,” he posted on Instagram at the conclusion of the event.
“The race felt incredible with so much cheers, support and raw emotion around the entire course.”
Close to calling it quits
Following a turbulent year and a half, Schoeman admitted that he had considered bringing his professional career to an end on multiple occasions due to a persistent knee injury and lack of faith.
“In all honesty, for the last year and a half I’ve been in a very bad place. In part because of a knee injury but also because a lot of people, including myself has lost faith in me and my ability. I called it more than once on my career because the pain becomes unbearable and at times it feels like it will never go away.
“Trivial as it may sound, when my Instagram account got hacked, I thought it might have been a sign that I should quietly disappear and that’s when I truly got lost.
“Out of pure luck I found a loophole to get a post out onto my account, a media agency found it, got me a direct contact to Facebook and I got my account back. It felt amazing to be seen again and reconnected with my social media family. The feeling of support and belief was a great boost.”
Moving in the right direction
Schoeman has seen signs of his undoubted talent in training and suggests the last month in particular has been extremely encouraging.
He added: “I’ve had massive improvements in my running and I was able to finally put in some volume. Then I race in Roth, no expectations but to learn and have fun with the race. It delivered on every aspect and I have been humbled by the spirit of triathlon and just being part of it.
“I didn’t feel fantastic on the day and had to take my foot off the gas after 110km on the bike. I took it all in and with respect to everyone, I crossed the finish line. I lost my voice and I’ll spend a week or two to fully recover but this will stay with me forever.”
“I found exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
