SA's answer to Usain Bolt

A talented teen has defied his school's gangland environment by winning a bursary and burning up the athletics track.

Keenan Michau, of Cape Town, was awarded a bursary by Minister of Sports Fikile Mbalula in December.

A matric at Bernadino Heights High School, where pupils are accustomed to the sound of gunshots during lessons, Michau, 18, ran 100m in 10.47 seconds at a meeting in Parow recently.

The current 100m world record is held by Usain Bolt, who crossed the finish line in 9.58 seconds. This is the record the teenager, who is the top young sprinter in the province, wants to beat. He also hopes to qualify for the Olympic Games.

The South African record is 10.06sec, jointly held by Simon Magakwe and Johan Rossouw.

The world junior record is 10.01sec, set by Darrel Brown, then 18, of Trinidad, in 1984. The South African junior mark is 10.30sec, achieved by Wilhelm van der Vyver in 2008.

To qualify for the 100m at the world championships in Moscow in August, Michau would have to achieve a time of 10.15sec.

The athletics manager at the school, Llewellyn Arendse, said it was an honour to have Michau. Some of the top high schools had offered him a scholarship.

The school is surrounded by abject poverty and violence. But, thanks to dedicated teachers , it has become a haven for pupils, who are from townships in Kraaifontein.

The school has produced good athletes, a girls' rugby team and an award-winning drum majorettes squad. The pupils have performed well academically and received recognition from the education department.

"Kraaifontein has been rocked in the last couple of months by the most horrific gang and drugs-related incidents. People have been gunned down daily in broad daylight," said Arendse.

"Most teenagers find themselves caught between searching for their identity in the wrong places and with the wrong role models."

Arendse said that when Michau's potential was noticed, the school jumped into action, signing him up with a professional athletics club and paying half of the membership fees.

His father, Philip Michau, picks him up at the side of the road almost every day after work and rushes him to the Bellville Athletics Club, where he trains for several hours with coach Alroy Dixon.

"We get home at about 8pm every day. But I do not mind," said Phillip. "I am proud beyond words of his progress."

Mbalula's spokesman, Paena Galane, said Michau received a bursary valued at R100000. This will cover school fees and access to high performance centres at universities, where his progress and growth will be monitored.

Michau does not mind the sacrifices. Despite starting homework late at night and studying well past midnight, his school work has improved.

"My parents keep me on the right track. I run because I love my sport. I don't want to make money from it - I will go and study. But this is my hobby and I love it." - Additional reporting by David Isaacson