Athletes Who Inspire: Francois Prinsloo set to represent South Alabama Jags, South Africa in the Olympics

MOBILE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — As the Olympics kick off in Paris, a South Alabama discus thrower has his mind set on winning a gold medal.

Francois Prinsloo , a senior at the University of South Alabama, is a discus thrower for the Men’s Track and Field program who last month won a national title in the discus. But that was not enough for the Worcester, South Africa discus thrower.

Prinsloo said he is looking to excel in the highest stage of the sport: the Olympic Games in Paris.

“I think any athlete in any of their fields dreams of being on a stage like this. The Olympics is always the height for any athlete to achieve. And that has always been my dream, That has always been my goal. And people always ask me, Have you seen yourself here? And to be honest, yes, I have. I have envisioned it.”

To help in his mission to win gold, Prinsloo said he started meeting with a sports psychologist to sharpen the mental side of his game. His coaches said that Prinsloo’s mission to improve his mental game has helped him to improve in the sport.

“Francois always had the ability and you see glimpses of it throughout his career, but this year he kind of put it together, you know, and he was more relaxed, more poised, and competed well, even admits that he maybe didn’t do his best,” said Jags Coach Paul Bruseke. “It was still pretty good. It’s great to see him, you know, develop not only physically, but is his approach, as is mental toughness, approach to competition is exponentially improved.”

With the Olympics starting this week, Pinsloo is set to represent the Jags while marching with South Africa in the opening ceremonies on Friday.

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