Athens - If all goes according to plan for wheelchair athlete Ernst van Dyk in Athens, he will occupy a unique slot in South African sporting history as the champion of the two major events of the Paralympics - the 400m sprint at the Olympic Stadium and the 42.2km over the route where the marathon was born.
"The 400m wheelchair race at the Paralympics is akin to the 100m sprint at the Olympics," said a lean and mean looking Van Dyk.
"So that and the marathon at the other end of the distance spectrum, are my main priorities at these Paralympics."
The Cape Province athlete, whose disability is congenital double amputation of the legs, enters the Paralympics fray determined to rid himself of the bitter taste of lessons learned four years ago when he arrived at the Sydney Games over-trained and jaded from an intense training camp in Canberra.
"The balance for what I hope to achieve here is a very delicate one between speed and endurance," said Van Dyk, who studied for his honours degree in sports science at Stellenbosch University.
"The 400m demands explosive power and speed, while the marathon demands speed endurance."
Van Dyk's training regime for Sydney 2000 was a gruelling 40km a day, mainly quality workouts on the Canberra University track.
He entered competition with high hopes, but his body failed to respond and he finished with one medal - a bronze in the 400m in 49.14 that was way off his world record 47.05 that he set a year later.
"The problem there was that I lost sight of what I was doing and I had no recovery time going into Sydney," said Van Dyk. "I learned my lesson there big time. This time round I held my training camp in Switzerland and yes, my daily training was even further than in 2000.
"I was doing 60km a day that took in long slow distance interspersed with quality workouts on the track. The big difference is that I cut right back three weeks ago and given myself lots of recovery time.
"I feel good, fresh and sharp, but you know, anything can happen out there on the track. The biggest secret is not to tighten up."
Van Dyk said his best shot at a medal would be the 400m.
"I've gone under 48 seconds for the first time only in the past two years when I set my world record, then again in Switzerland where I raced 47.40 from lane one which is a difficult lane to race in. Ideally, I'd like to race in lanes three or four.
"The beauty about the 400 is that we stay in our lanes from start to finish, while the further distances become bunch races, rather like cycling, and many factors determine the outcome."
