For former Olympic athlete, Elana Meyer’s life was shaped by running. Today, she is director of an organisation that empowers South African youth through sports. Meyer spoke to SMF News’ Amahle Thabethe about winning her first race as a child athlete, and about creating opportunities for the next generation.
The boardroom at the Stellenbosch Athletics Cycling Education offices (ACE) is quiet. Seated across the table is Elana Meyer. She speaks passionately about young people, opportunities for young people, and the future.
Elana Meyer, former athlete and Olympic medalist, is co-founder of Endurocad, a programme that supports young athletes. She also works for the Athletics Cycling Education programme, which is based at Stellenbosch High School. PHOTO: Amahle Thabethe
Meyer’s career is filled with achievements, medals and Olympic appearances. Yet, as she approaches her 60th birthday and reflects on a life shaped by sport, education and service, it is not her athletic success that she speaks about most enthusiastically.
Her focus today is on helping others realise their potential.
“I believe that if people get the chance and the opportunity, they can flourish,” she says.
Meyer is co-founder and director of Endurocad, a programme that focuses on tertiary athlete development. She also leads the Athletics Cycling Education Trust that supports promising young athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For Meyer, the goal has never been simply to produce successful athletes; it is about developing people.
A lover of running
Meyer’s own journey began far from international stadiums.
Growing up in the small Western Cape town of Albertinia, Meyer was surrounded by a family that loved sport. Her mother was a physical education teacher. As a young girl, Meyer dreamed of becoming a gymnast after watching Romanian Olympic champion Nadia Comăneci compete.
However, for Meyer opportunities for gymnastics were limited. Her school, which at the time had only 180 learners across both primary and high school, lacked the facilities and coaching needed for the sport. Instead, Meyer found herself preparing for a school fun run by training on the family farm.
What started as preparation soon became a passion.
“It was something very personal,” she says. “It was adventure and I was running on a farm, and I was always curious about what is on the next turn.”
Unlike team sports, running belonged entirely to her. She chose the route, the distance and pace.
Elana Meyer, former Olympic athlete, on the Stellenbosch High School athletics tracks. While running shaped her life, she now focuses on the development of young athletes. PHOTO: Amahle Thabethe
At the age of 13, Meyer entered the Foot of Africa half-marathon in 1980, with a distance of 21.2km. Despite never having raced such a long distance before, she won.
“That is the first time I realised I have got some good potential,” she says.
Meyer says the victory became one of several defining moments in her life. Equally important was the support she received from her family. While others questioned whether someone so young should be running such long distances, her parents stood firmly behind her.
Using the analogy of circus acrobats performing above a safety net, Meyer explains how her family gave her the confidence to take risks.
“They always gave me that safety that I can try difficult tricks because I’ve got the safety,” she says. “I wasn’t scared to excel or perform, but I was also not scared to fail.”
Lessons from the track
That support continued when she moved to Robertson High School, in Robertson, to access better coaching opportunities. There, she met coach Charles Faasen, whom she still credits for laying the foundation of her career.
“He didn’t only coach me as an athlete; he coached me as a person,” she says.
Meyer’s athletic career unfolded during a complicated period in South African history. Because of apartheid, South African athletes were excluded from international competition for many years. As a result, she missed the opportunity to compete in two Olympic Games.
When South Africa was readmitted to international sport, Meyer was able to compete as a long-distance runner at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. She won a silver medal in the women’s 10 000-meter race. She was 25 at the time. Looking back, she describes the experience as the emotional highlight of her career.
The South African team entered the Games carrying a peace flag rather than the country’s old apartheid-era flag. For Meyer, this moment represented far more than sport; it represented a new beginning for South Africa. She remembers meeting Nelson Mandela in the Olympic village in Barcelona in 1992, and feeling a sense of hope during a period of political uncertainty.
Elana Meyer, Olympic athlete and director of Endurocad, a programme for children with a passion for sports, says sport can play an important role in developing confidence, resilience and opportunity among young people. PHOTO: Amahle Thabethe
Despite the challenges and pressures that came with competing internationally, Meyer says athletics taught her lessons that continue to guide her today.
“Winning for me wasn’t standing first on the podium. It was doing the best that I can do because I was competing against myself,” she says.
She describes athletics as a “fantastic school” that taught her resilience, discipline, and responsibility. Injuries, disappointments, and setbacks became opportunities for growth.
“I cherish my degrees, but it is really athletics and my international career that shaped me as a person,” she says. Those experiences eventually inspired her work beyond the tracks.
Creating opportunities for others
Through Endurocad, founded in 2013, and the Stellenbosch ACE programme, formed in 2022, Meyer now works to create opportunities for young people who may otherwise never have access to them. Meyer says the programmes provide academic support, mentorship, athletic development, and personal growth opportunities.
This year alone, around 80 learners from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit from the ACE programme. One story stands out for Meyer. She recalls a learner whose father worked as a farm labourer. The learner, who joined the ACE programme in grade 11, is currently studying at the University of Southern California on a sports scholarship. For Meyer, stories like these represent the true purpose of her work.
“It is not only about athletics development. It is about developing a whole person,” she says.
Beyond the public image
Janet Welham, co-founder of Endurocad, describes Meyer as “determined and persistent”.
Having worked alongside Meyer in building the organisation, Welham believes those qualities have been central to both Meyer’s success as an athlete and her commitment to creating opportunities for young people.
To Welham Meyer’s Olympic medal reflects who Meyer is: Someone who can commit with years of dedication and perseverance.
Lara Burger, who has known Meyer for 35 years, also believes that those values have always defined her.
“What I admire about Elana is her persistence and dedication,” Burger says. “She dreams long term.”
According to Burger, Meyer values simple pleasures just as much as major achievements. Family also remains central to her life.
The baton of empowerment
As a woman in sport, Meyer acknowledges that opportunities were often limited. She encourages young people, particularly young women, not to allow others to define who they are.
“When you walk in, people see you a certain way. The decision must be yours to say: ‘But I am not going to be the person that they think I am. I am who I am’,” she says.
Elana Meyer, former Olympic athlete, says athletics taught her many of the life skills that still continue to guide her work with young athletes. PHOTO: Amahle Thabethe
Her message is one of ownership and self determination. “Empowerment is about owning your journey.”
Reflecting on the legacy that Meyer hopes to leave behind, her focus turns to the young people that she now serves.
“I think if I had to leave something behind, I would like it to be that it was really about passing on a baton to a new generation. Not the baton of performance, but the baton of empowering.”