Interview with Precious McKenzie

 

'At what age did you decide you wanted to be a weightlifter and why?'

 

'At the age of 19, it was 19 years…by accident I walked into the wrong gym, I asked one of the guys where was the nearest gym (He was in his hometown). He guided me to a gym, because I asked him where could I do my gymnastics. So of course he sent me to the weightlifting gym but there they had the gymnastic apparatus…so I walked in there and the fella who was coaching named Kevin Stent and he was the one who really drove me into it.  Because he saw me by the acrobats and he said to why don’t you come and join us, weightlifting will really help you with your gymnastics. I fell for the joke and got hooked.'

 

 

 

'Was weightlifting your first choice of career?'

 

'Gymnastics was the first, and in the convent the priest was coaching me in gymnastics and that’s how it all started.'

 

 

 

'Who has been your greatest influence professionally on your weightlifting career and why?'

 

'The great influence was Kevin Stent. Because he was so brilliant in coaching weightlifting and yet he learnt weightlifting from the book, and when he saw my potential was so good he wanted me because he could see that South Africa wouldn’t let me represent the country and he wanted me to go to the United States because he saw my potential and my ability.'  

 

 

 

'How important have your friends and family been in terms of realising your dreams?'

 

'My wife was the most supportive, without her I wouldn’t be here.'

 

 

 

'What three attributes do you think you require to succeed in today’s competitive world of weightlifting?'

 

'The very first one is determination you have got to be very determined to what your goals are for. And once you get to the stage when you are getting to international level, that is when you can’t stop, you have to go for the goals. The second one I would say is, put in the training and the third one that I say to everyone, never despair because success only comes from hard, hard work.'

 

 

 

'What one piece of advice would you give to a young person who is embarking upon a new career path?'

 

'They must know what they are aiming for in the first instant. In the second instant is once they have got into the stride of the sport they are doing that is when they must not give up, because once you start…never despair just keep going, because you will come across obstacles which can deter you and make you want to stop.' 

 

'Can you describe the most defining moment of your weightlifting career?'

 

'It’s when things are going downhill and that is the moment you should discover your ability because you are not pushing yourself to the limit.'

 

 

 

'What did an average training routine involve/require, how often did you train and when you did hoe long for?'

 

'The average time of training is definitely at least in comparative times two hours, that is when you can get the full training. Half an hour, three quarters of an hour it’s not good enough, at least two hours…I usually train every second day. If you train every second day, you recuperate, recharge the battery and you will be back again and that way you will have all the energy and strength.'

 

 

 

'What have you had to sacrifice in order for your weightlifting career to survive?'

 

'The sacrifice that you’ve got to do is First of all early to bed that is one of the first because that is where you charge your batteries. Many people think fitness comes from training, training, training but fitness comes from first umber one is sleep. The more sleep you can put in, the more energy you can create, before that there is no energy because you are very tired and the body hasn’t recuperated.'

 

Precious’s wife went onto say that it was difficult as they had a family as well and family time had to be sacrificed, Precious also said that you have to sacrifice social time as it can affect your performance.

 

 

 

'What is the greatest challenge you have faced and how did you overcome this?'

 

'The greatest challenge I have ever had was the South African government, which never let us as black people compete in South Africa. That was my biggest, biggest obstacle I still didn’t give up because many of my colleagues who got into that position just gave up. I didn’t I just proceeded and every time I made it and was successful the government would come along and say there will be no black people in South Africa that will compete while south Africa is a white government, and that didn’t deter me it just made me work even harder and eventually when failure cam along, I could see that I wouldn’t represent the country, I then thought, I must get out and that’s the only reason why everything became successful, because if I hadn’t left South Africa I wouldn’t be here today.'

 

This is the key point. But Precious went onto say that his wife was a key part of his life and she helped him and the family through the rough times to make it through to glory. The rest of the clip tells the full story of how Precious had to adapt to his new life in England and make a name for himself as an international weightlifter, I highly recommend you watch it as it is very interesting by how they managed to overcome the racism that opposed them.

 

 

'In your own words, what is the key to success?'

 

'You never despair, first of all and you must aim for what you want. You are aiming for gold that’s all your going to think of doesn’t think of second or third. No one wants to rub shoulders with number 2 or number three; they only want to rub shoulders with number 1. You aim for the top. And the last part is again what I mentioned, never despair because there will always be obstacles that deter you, and they should never deter you if you are strong in your thinking, in your strength and mind, go for it!'