By GARY LEMKE
Nick Quenet admits to having an “A-type personality”. A quick Google search will confirm that those traits include “achievement-oriented, competitive, fast-paced, and impatient”. That in itself wouldn’t have been good news for Morocco’s Badr Siwane when he got involved in a straight fight on the 5km run of the men’s triathlon in the race for gold at the African Games in Accra.
Quenet and Siwane had quickly turned the sprint triathlon, which started at 12.30 in the afternoon heat in the Ghanaian capital, into a two-man race. Quenet and Siwane had exited the 750m swim – held in the more uncommon atmosphere of a 50m pool instead of open water – virtually together and made the transition to their bikes just outside the swimming complex. From there it was a 20km bike race, followed by a 5km run.
The bike component was four laps of 5km each and already the 26-year-old South African felt that he was in for a good race. “Halfway through that first lap my legs felt really strong and I was feeling in control. We were working together, but I was confident.”
While on the bike he could feel the support coming from the side. “We rode in the complex and the Team SA tennis squad were there, as were some managers and coaches and then kept cheering. Although I wasn’t seeded No1 going into the event, there were valuable ranking points at stake and while I was confident of making the podium, I felt I could win gold.”
He then shrugged off the challenge of the Moroccan on the run and powered home to win gold in 57min 36sec, some 33 seconds ahead of Siwane, with Dylan Nortje a further 67 seconds behind that, making it gold and bronze for the duo representing Team SA.
Immediately afterwards Quenet was taking off for his anti-doping responsibilities, and while he wanted to inform his partner back in Colorado, USA, he couldn’t. “So many of us were affected by the poor wifi and internet signals (an undersea cable issue affected large chunks of Africa) that I couldn’t let her know!”
Quenet admits that he has gone about his career in an “unusual” order. “I attended Paarl Roos in Stellenbosch and come from a swimming background. I won a couple of national titles and always did well on the elite side of sport. Then, about eight years ago, when I was around 17 or 18, I decided to go with triathlon as a career.”
Except, he didn’t quite commit full-time to the sport. “I chose studying as something to do and pursue a career instead of becoming a professional triathlete. So, I suppose you can say that I did things unconventionally. I studied accounting at Stellenbosch University and then I did my honours in accounting, After that I completed my CA articles and it was only about a year ago that I became a professional triathlete. That in itself is quite rare to study first and then dedicate to a full-time career. I now stay in Colorado with my girlfriend and race on the US triathlon circuit, and then spend three months in Europe and enjoy the South African summer back home.”
On his Instagram account, Quenet’s bio simply reads: “Small town boy. Pro Triathlete. Academic”. In reality, those six words are probably some of the most accurate written by anyone on that social media platform. What you see is what you get with Quenet – and that is excellence.
That A-type personality that he refers to himself meant that within 24 hours of winning the fold at the African Games he was back in training. “Qualification for the Paris Olympics is ongoing, so I’m off to Swakopmund in Namibia next week and then I have one more race in PE. I have high ambitions and hopes to be in Paris and then will look to make the Team SA squad at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. After that I can go back to my career in accounting.”
The perfectionist and drive that burns within Quenet has seen him overcome plenty of adversity on his way to the summit of the sport. “I had a heart condition four years ago which was a shock and a knock to me. I was treated for it – it was diagnosed as Wolff-Parkinson Syndrome, which is basically an issue with the rhythm of the heart. I have been treated for it and while there might well be more treatment required going forward, it doesn’t affect me as an elite athlete.”
He admits that he spends most of his training time “alone”, although doesn’t get lonely. “I always wanted to be a home-grown South African success story and I still have my coach (Richard Lawrie) based in PE. The world has become a global village in terms of communication and technology so we spend quite a bit of time online and in virtual meetings and sessions. So, while I train alone, I’m not lonely. This is my job. It’s what I do.
Something else he does is win. And the shiny gold medal hanging around his neck at the African Games is testimony to that.
Photo by Roger Sedres in Accra