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12 April 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Charl Devenish
LJ van Zyl
“May the best team win the 2019 BestMed Pedometer Challenge!” said LJ van Zyl, Pedometer Challenge ambassador.

Participants in the 2019 BestMed Pedometer Challenge will start improving their health step by step after the University of the Free State (UFS) challenged the Stellenbosch University, Central University of Technology, and North-West University (NWU) to an eight-week walking competition.

South African 400-metre hurdles record-holder and the Pedometer Challenge ambassador, LJ van Zyl, embraced the initiative as an alternative method to achieve fitness. “I am so tired of running and this is great way to stay fit,” he said during the official launch on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus on 5 April 2019.

Inter-institutional fight for fitness

Last year, the UFS Division for Organisational Development and Employment Wellness in the Department of Human Resources led a UFS-only challenge that saw 60 teams of staff members log a total of 54 606 km in eight weeks. The division then challenged the NWU.

Together, the NWU and UFS walked 132 000 km. This year, the UFS is taking it one step further by challenging two more institutions.
  
Leading the way

“We aim to get South Africa active – starting with the UFS – by embracing fitness and health ourselves,” said Arina Engelbrecht, UFS Employee Wellness Specialist.

Participants on all fitness and activity levels will gun for a 200 000 km target over 10 weeks.

The challenge kicked off on the Bloemfontein Campus with a 3-km walk at the launch, leaving 199 997 km between the four universities for the rest of the eight-week challenge.

News Archive

Dednam brothers qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing
2008-05-16

 
Roelof  and Chris Dednam

The Badminton World Federation included the South African doubles pairs, Chantal Botts and Michelle Edwards, as well as the UFS students Chris and Roelof Dednam, in its Olympic list of invited qualifiers for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Both the women's and men's doubles events will include 16 pairs.

Badminton South Africa and Sascoc will have to decide by the end of May whether the players will be included in the South African Olympic Team.

The Dednam brothers qualified by accumulating points in ten tournaments in 2007 and 2008.

In their endeavour to qualify amidst the semi-professional players of especially Asia and Europe, Roelof was assisted financially by Badminton South Africa and Sascoc's 'Operation Excellence'. Chris was assisted through an Olympic Solidarity bursary of the IOC.
 

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