Hestrie Cloete

Hestrie Cloete
Personal information
Nationality  South African
Born (1978-08-26) 26 August 1978
Germiston, South Africa
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 68 kg (150 lb; 10 st 10 lb)
Sport
Sport Track and field
Event(s) High jump
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) HJ: 2.06 (Saint-Denis 2003)
Updated on 14 November 2013.

Hestrie Cloete-Storbeck OIS (born 26 August 1978) is a former South African high jumper. Her foremost achievements were winning two world championships and two silver medals at Olympic Games.

Career

Cloete was discovered at an age of 13 by her long-time coach Martin Marx, and trained at the Lichtenburg High School early in her career. She was quickly found to have a very strong will, which had given other coaches trouble coaching her. Hestrie Cloete had always put a great significance in maintaining a strong mind, and explained that she finds much of that strength in her faith. In 2003, she was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver (OIS) by South African president Thabo Mbeki for excellence in her sports performances.

Cloete had somewhat unusual habits, as she was known to smoke about a pack of cigarettes a day, and has also stated she loved fast food. In an attempt to focus before every jump, Cloete characteristically did spin her index fingers around each other, leaned sideways with her upper body and visualized every step of her attempt.

Cloete retired after the 2004 Summer Olympics to focus on her family.

Achievements

Hestrie's awarded international achievements follow below. She achieved her high jump personal best of 2.06 m on 31 August 2003, when winning the gold medal under the World Championships in Paris (African record, as of Mai 2011)

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  South Africa
1995 All-Africa Games Harare, Zimbabwe 1st 1.85 m
1996 World Junior Championships Sydney, Australia 6th 1.85 m
1998 IAAF World Cup Johannesburg, South Africa 2nd 1.96 m
African Championships Dakar, Senegal 1st 1.92 m
1999 All-Africa Games Johannesburg, South Africa 1st 1.96 m
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 2nd 2.01 m
2001 World Championships Edmonton, Canada 1st 2.00 m
2002 IAAF World Cup Madrid, Spain 1st 2.02 m
Commonwealth Games Manchester, England 1st 1.96 m
African Championships Radès, Tunisia 1st 1.95 m
2003 World Championships Paris, France 1st 2.06 m
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 2nd 2.02 m
African Championships Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo 1st 1.95 m

Personal life

Cloete grew up under her maiden name Storbeck in the small railway town of Coligny with her mother Martie and father Willem. She divorced her first husband in 2004 and married Afrikaans singer Jurie Els on September the 30th 2005, gave birth to a daughter Chrizette on 5 October 2006 and moved to New Zealand early in 2008. Hestrie and Jurie's son Jason John Els was born in New Zealand on 23 July 2008. The couple resides in Silverdale on the North Island and Hestrie is a teacher at a preschool while Jurie still pursues his music career.[1]

See also

References

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Paula Radcliffe
Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Year
2003
Succeeded by
Yelena Isinbayeva
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Venelina Veneva
Kajsa Bergqvist
Women's High Jump Best Year Performance
1999
2003
Succeeded by
Monica Iagăr
Yelena Slesarenko
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