'I want to be the fastest man in the world' - Olympic star, Bayanda Walaza

Dan Corder (standing in for CapeTalk's John Maytham) speaks to rising Olympic star, Bayanda Walaza about his record-breaking season, the challenges he’s faced, and his dreams for the future.

Listen below:

Bayanda Walaza is an Olympic 4x100m relay silver medallist, who set a South African under-20 record of 9.99 seconds over the 100m sprint event in Pretoria on Saturday, 16 March.

Walaza became only the ninth South African to win the Gauteng North Provincial championships.

The 19-year-old Walaza chopped 0.04 seconds off the previous record of 10.03, held by Bradley Nkoana.

The South African first burst onto the scene in 2024 when he blitzed a 10.13 seconds at the South African junior championships, before finishing second behind Akani Simbine at the senior nationals.

Known for his unorthodox running style, Walaza appears to have come of age on the track, following a breakthrough in 2024, which included winning Olympic silver and the 100-200m double at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima.

Walaza beat Australian phenom Gout Gout to claim the 200m title at the age-group championships.

In February, Walaza also posted the 11^th fastest time by a junior athlete over 60 metres, crossing the line in 6.58 seconds at a meeting in Pretoria.

Walaza lost his father to gun violence at 10 years old. He recounts this as a "rough time" in his life, where he wanted to "quit athletics"... but his mom got and still gets him through difficult times.

"It was extremely hard for me, it was a point where I wanted to quit athletics and quit school, but through my mom and help from my mom, at home... we were not financially strong then, so she always made sure that we got help... and for me, to function very well because she was also scared of my future and saw I was crashing out... she made a plan that I got the help I needed and even now, she motivates me and keeps me going."

- Bayanda Walaza, Olympic Star

While being a world athletic star, Walaza is currently at university, studying Logistics.

He says he tries his best to stay grounded and focused on running, and studies while receiving support from his mom and loved ones.

At this point in his career, Walaza says his dream is "to inspire the whole world."

"For me, it's to inspire the whole world, especially African kids... because there is a point where African kids don't always see ourselves bigger than other countries... African countries are not taken seriously, they believe that you cannot find the fastest person in the world from Africa... they have to come from America or these other big countries, but they don't have trust in African countries."

- Bayanda Walaza, Olympic Star

"For now, my goal is to get gold medals and win all these major competitions... and I want to be the fastest man in the whole world."

- Bayanda Walaza, Olympic Star

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.