Education
University of Pretoria.
University of Pretoria.
He is the South African record holder in the event with a personal best of 47.66 seconds. He came fifth in the 2008 Olympic final. Born in Bloemfontein, his first international medal came at the 2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics, where he took the bronze with South Africa in the Swedish medley relay.
His international breakthrough came at the World Athletics Final in 2005, when he finished third.
He came near his best with a run of 48.08 seconds at the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final, finishing as runner-up, and secured another silver medal at the 2006 IAAF World Cup. He was off colour in 2007, being eliminated in the heats at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and finishing eighth at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final.
He rebounded the following year and retained his title at the 2008 African Championships and earned a place on the South African Olympic team Van Zyl came fifth in the 400 m hurdles final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and also ran as part of the national relay team
He was eliminated in the semi-finals at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, despite entering the competition with the fastest time of the year.
Van Zyl set the South African record of 47.66 seconds at an athletics meeting in Pretoria on 25 February 2011, improving upon Llewellyn Herbert"s former mark. He made a large improvement upon his 400 m sprint best a month later, taking almost a second off his former best with a run of 44.86 sec at a Yellow Pages Series meeting. TuksSport – University of Pretoria, South Africa Personal bests 400 metres – 44.86 s (2011).