Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
28 February 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Image SA
Wayde van Niekerk
Former UFS student Wayde van Niekerk, who still runs for the Kovsie Athletics Club, made his comeback after a long injury layoff.

Exactly 16 months and 16 days after seriously injuring his right knee, Wayde van Niekerk, the world and Olympic champion and record-holder in the 400 m, made a successful comeback to the track over the weekend.

His participation in the Free State Championship on Saturday (23 February 2019) was the former Kovsie sprinter’s first competitive race, which ended in a victory for the 26-year-old.

Van Niekerk won the 400 m in a time of 47,28 seconds. The former Marketing student still participates for the University of the Free State (UFS) Athletics Club.

According to his coach, Ans Botha, there is no immediate plans for a next race; this race only formed part of his training. They will be working towards the World Championships in September 2019, where he took gold in the 400 m at the previous two champs in 2017 and 2015. 

The international sprint sensation picked up medial and lateral tears of the meniscus, as well as a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while participating in a celebrity touch-rugby match back in October 2017.

He underwent surgery in the United States, followed by six months of rehabilitation in Doha under the watchful eye of Dr Louis Holtzhausen, well-known sports medicine physician. Holtzhausen was previously the head of the University of the Free State’s Department of Sports and Exercise Medicine.

In second place in the 400 m on Saturday was Cornel Fredericks, a hurdles specialist. Fredericks, gold medallist in the 400 m hurdles at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, is now also training under Botha.

News Archive

UFS establishes the first chair in Biblical Spirituality in the world
2007-09-17

 

Prof. Pieter de Villiers recently delivered his inaugural lecture as extraordinary professor in Biblical Spirituality at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Faculty of Theology. He is the first person in the world to occupy a chair of this nature. As extraordinary professor he is associated to the Faculty of Theology’s Departments of Old and New Testaments. The interest in spirituality is growing world-wide and research into this field is increasing. As a result of this, Prof. Francois Tolmie, head of the Department of New Testament at the UFS, took the initiative of establishing a chair in Biblical Spirituality at the Faculty of Theology. This places the faculty at the forefront of this important field of study. During the inaugural lecture were, from the left: Prof. Fanie Snyman (Head of the UFS Department of Old Testament), Prof. Hermie van Zyl (Dean of the UFS Faculty of Theology), Prof. Teuns Verschoor (Vice-Rector: Academic Operations at the UFS), Prof. De Villiers and Prof. Tolmie.
Photo: Stephen Collett

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept