The 18-year-old from St. Albert who moved to Edmonton from South Africa five years ago, broke Whyte’s Alberta Summer Games record last year with a time of 14.40 in the 100 metre hurdles, and she’d later play a small role in helping Whyte prepare for her third Olympics, without even realizing it at the time.
“Being from South Africa, I had never heard anything about her before until my coach told me about breaking her record,” said Kluyts. “We ended up racing each other in a tune-up meet for the Olympic trials and junior nationals and I didn’t even know I was racing her. I mistook her for as one of us young ones and I had to go up to her and apologize to her and she was so humble. That’s what I love about her.”
Now, Kluyts would like nothing more than to follow her Whyte’s footsteps some day.
On Friday at the 2017 Alberta School Athletics Association Track and Field provincials, the Paul Kane track star competed in her final high school track event taking home a silver medal in the senior women’s 200-metre event with a time of 25.94, losing to Harry Ainlay’s Grace Konrad, who won her third straight provincial title.
Kluyts had a pretty impressive high school track career. She’s the reigning two-time provincial champion in the women’s 100-metre and she’s won two silver medals in the 200-metre.
The hurdles are her strongest event, but she doesn’t compete in the hurdles at the high school level, because she prefers running hurdles at the club level because of the longer distance and spacing between the upright frames.
She uses the 100-metre and 200-metre events at the ASAA provincials to help her train for the hurdles.
“If my family didn’t move to Canada, I wouldn’t have discovered this sport,” said Kluyts. “Sport to me is a big part of my life. It’s what I identify myself with and I love any sport. I get hooked and I just love it. When I moved here, it was just something I truly fell in love with.”
Whyte was at the provincial meet on Friday doing colour commentary for their livestream feed and she’s excited to see what the future holds for Kluyts.
“It’s awesome to line up with the future of track and field in Alberta and in Canada. For me, it was to see it through her eyes (when they raced). She was so excited and she put in a big performance,” said Whyte. “I know it helped her for the Canada Summer Games and it helped me get a good qualifying time for Rio.
“I absolutely love her spirit. She gets so excited and you can tell she’s a growth-oriented athlete. I see that twinkle in her eye when she gets out on the track and she’s eager to show what she can do and that will bode well for her future.”
Kluyts may not have known anything about Whyte before breaking her record and then racing her last year, but she’s found a new role model to learn from and she is committed to do everything she can to advance in track – particularly as a hurdler.
“When I first started track, I competed and won meets, but I realize now just how hard you have to work to achieve your goals,” said Kluyts, who is attending the University of Alberta next year and plans to compete for the Pandas track team.
“After meeting Angela and competing with her and looking at how good she is and seeing how much work she puts in to achieve everything she’s wanted. I realize that’s what I want. I’m committed to putting that work in.”
Kluyts won’t get a chance to defend her 100-metre provincial title on Saturday as she has a pretty important commitment – her high school graduation. But it wasn’t an easy decision for her.
“It was a really tough decision, because since I moved to Canada, I feel like I was born to be on the track, but I decided to go to my grad,” said Kluyts. “I’ve learned that you have to lose some and track is something that is part of my every day life. My grad will be a once in a lifetime experience.”
