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Cape Town - South Africa's 400m hurdles sensation LJ van Zyl won't participate in next year's Yellow Pages Series as well as the SA Athletics Championships in order to focus on the Olympic Games in London.
"The Olympic Games in London are just too important. We can't afford to take unnecessary risks," Hennie Kotzé, Van Zyl's coach told the Beeld newspaper.
"I want LJ to participate in no more than five or six races before the Games. The biggest challenge is to ensure he stays injury free when the Games start. To achieve that, he has to prepare long and thorough.
"LJ will probably participate for the first time in the Diamond League meet in Doha (Qatar) in May. All will depend on whether I'm satisfied with how his training programme develops," said Kotzé.
Due to hurdles not being part of the Doha event, the plan is to let Van Zyl run the 400m sprint there (Doha) and then start to focus on the hurdles a week later in Shanghai.
Kotzé has already notified SASCOC about their plans to skip the two local events and doesn't foresee any problems.
Van Zyl this year became the first South African athlete to run the 400m (flat sprint) inside 45 seconds when he clocked 44.86 seconds in Germiston in March.
"The Olympic Games in London are just too important. We can't afford to take unnecessary risks," Hennie Kotzé, Van Zyl's coach told the Beeld newspaper.
"I want LJ to participate in no more than five or six races before the Games. The biggest challenge is to ensure he stays injury free when the Games start. To achieve that, he has to prepare long and thorough.
"LJ will probably participate for the first time in the Diamond League meet in Doha (Qatar) in May. All will depend on whether I'm satisfied with how his training programme develops," said Kotzé.
Due to hurdles not being part of the Doha event, the plan is to let Van Zyl run the 400m sprint there (Doha) and then start to focus on the hurdles a week later in Shanghai.
Kotzé has already notified SASCOC about their plans to skip the two local events and doesn't foresee any problems.
Van Zyl this year became the first South African athlete to run the 400m (flat sprint) inside 45 seconds when he clocked 44.86 seconds in Germiston in March.
