"I made the mistake of comparing myself to others" – Colette Uys

National women's shot put and discus champion Colette Uys admitted she is not satisfied with her start to the season, conceding she is not yet throwing the distances she had hoped for at this stage.

Uys produced arguably the best season of her career in 2025. She threw over 18m for the first time in the shot put when she tossed 18.14m to capture the national title at the Athletics South Africa (ASA) senior champs, backing that up with a gold in the discus, before narrowly missing the clean sweep when Liandri Holtzhausen edged her to the hammer throw title.

Her domestic success translated onto the global stage as the University of Pretoria medical student went on to secure a bronze medal at the World Student Games in Germany, before rounding off her season with a credible 15^th place at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September. This year, however, Uys is enduring what she called a slow and difficult start to the season.

Uys is pictured here competing in a CGA league meeting at the Germiston Stadium. Photo Credit: Lebogang Pita.

"I have always been very strong mentally. God gave me this talent and I'm going to use it. The start of this year was difficult because I'm not throwing what I want to throw. I made the mistake comparing myself to others," she told #TheTopRunner.

After Minè de Klerk smashed the national women's shot put record when she tossed 18.37m last month, the 30-year old put herself under pressure by trying to replicate her own 2025 achievements. But things haven’t gone as expected.

"Minè just threw the SA record. That is literally so good. But this season has started slowly for me, and I made the mistake of comparing myself to others. I had to make the choice of going to talk to a sport psychologist to really get out of it," added Uys who hails from the Free State town of Riebeeckstad.

Uys enjoyed the best season of her career in 2025 winning the bronze medal at the World Student Games in Germany. Photo Credit: Supplied.

Her best shot put throw of the 2026 season is 17.49m, thrown at an ACNW league meeting on March 3 and has tossed over 16m on four occasions at leagues in Athletics Gauteng North and Central Gauteng Athletics League Track and Field League Meetings. In the discus and hammer throw, she has season’s bests of 53.83m and 63.47m respectively.

“I’m moving into the professional athlete space and it’s a mental shift. They haven’t started their outdoor season in the USA but I’m already comparing myself to them. It’s still early in the season and I’m learning not to compare myself to others but focus on getting my mental strength back and building towards the big competitions this year.” 

Uys is expected to represent the Tuks Athletics Club at the AGN Championships from 13-14 March where she will look to secure selection to the AGN team that will compete at the ASA Senior Track and Field Championships in Stellenbosch in April. Photo Credit: Lebogang Pita.

Asked what her goal is for the nationals in Stellenbosch in April, the Gauteng North athlete said she would attempt a national record in one of her events, without jeopardizing her season because she wants to peak at the African Senior Champs in Ghana and Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

"It's fine if I don't peak at nationals like I did last year but it would be very nice to get one SA record. That is the goal. I'm not sure if Ashley Erasmus and Minè are coming back, so we'll see. This is probably the last year I'm going to do all three events (at nationals) as well so I want to go out and try my best to medal in all three again. I do think it’s going to be a great year. We have a long season again. It's the Commonwealth Games. That's definitely the goal."