Porterville High learner now fastest under-18 sprinter in South Africa

Every year, South Africa observes Youth Day in June, providing an opportunity to highlight how access to education, support and opportunity can help young people realise their potential.

Seventeen-year-old Marlon Kayster, a Grade 11 learner from the farming community of Porterville, has emerged as a standout example after recording a 100m sprint time of 10.31 seconds, making him the fastest under-18 sprinter in South Africa and currently the fastest young man in the world for his age group.

The performance has secured him selection for the World Wide Scholarships (WWS) Western Cape Schools Athletics Tour, where he will compete in Italy and Sweden during June and July. He will also represent South Africa at the under-20 AAU Junior Olympic Games in the United States in August.

Marlon is backed by the KAL Trust, an employee benefit programme of the KAL Group, a JSE-listed diversified agri, fuel and lifestyle retailer. Through the Trust, he has been able to access schooling, accommodation and sporting essentials that have helped him pursue both his academic and athletic ambitions.

The breakthrough came at the Athletics South Africa All Age Groups Championships held in Germiston on 26 March 2026, where Marlon produced the 10.31-second sprint that set the benchmark.

“I was very emotional,” Marlon recalls of his world-lead performance. “I know how much hard work went into it, and when it finally paid off, it meant a lot.”

Despite the attention, he remains grounded. “For me, it felt very normal. I just did what I trained to do.”

Marlon says his success is built on discipline and routine, balancing schoolwork with demanding training schedules.

“There is a lot of discipline involved,” he says.

He competes for Boland Athletics while continuing his schooling at Porterville High School, which he says has played an important role in his development. “We take part in strong competitions, and academically everything is also very good,” he says.

His father, Wilbert Kayster, who works as a grain operations employee at the KAL Group’s Agrimark Grain Piketberg silo, says the support from the KAL Trust has been life-changing.

“I applied to the KAL Trust because I wanted to give my son a real chance to succeed,” he explains. “We could see Marlon’s potential from a young age, but without the right education and support, it would have been very difficult. Porterville High School offered an environment where he could grow academically while pursuing his sporting interests, but I couldn’t afford the costs. The Trust made it possible, and it changed everything for us.”

Since Grade 8, the Trust has provided financial assistance towards Marlon’s education, including school fees, accommodation, uniform and sports kit.

“It helps my parents and gives us opportunities we would not have had otherwise,” Marlon says.

His coach, Jacobus Wes, who has worked with him since the age of 11, describes him as a dedicated and grounded athlete.

“He knows what he wants and what he wants to achieve,” Wes says. “He is ambitious, but he also works very hard. What stands out for me is not only his talent as an athlete, but his character. He has developed as a person, and that is just as important.”

Wes believes his trajectory is still only beginning. “This is a long road,” he says. “If he keeps the attitude he has now and continues believing in his abilities, he can go very far.”

For Marlon, the motivation remains deeply personal. When asked who inspires him most, he is clear: “My dad,” he says.

The KAL Trust, established in 2011, supports employees of the KAL Group and their dependants through financial assistance focused on education, housing, sport and cultural development. Since inception, the Trust has supported nearly 2 000 beneficiaries and disbursed more than R20 million.

For the Kayster family, the support has not guaranteed success - but it has created opportunity. In Marlon’s case, that opportunity is now measured in fractions of a second on the track, and in a future that continues to open up at speed.