Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 120, July 2019 | Page 10

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Compiled by Manfred Seidler
With two World Championship
titles behind her name at
Under-18 and Under-20 level,
Zeney van der Walt stunned
the South African athletic
community when she won the
SA Senior 400m hurdles title
earlier this year, beating the
out-and-out favourite, Wenda
Nel. The 19-year-old then raced
twice in May and June on the
international circuit, first on 3
May in Doha, Qatar, and then
26 June in Goleniow, Poland. In
Doha she finished eighth at the Diamond League Meeting, and in Poland she finish
second, clocking 56.52 seconds to post the eighth-best time of her still young
career. Getting the invitation to a Diamond League Meet speaks volumes of the
potential she has.
Machaba Posts
Massive Best
It seems that Ryan Mphahlele’s
aggressive style has pumped
new blood into the veins of
South African middle distance
running, as Tumelo Machaba
took a massive 11 seconds off
his previous 1500m best when
he ran 3:38.30 in France at the
Carquefou Meet on 21 June.
His previous best was 3:49.16. Machaba has also clocked some respectable 800m
times in recent weeks, his latest being 1:46.56, a new personal best by almost a
second, when he won the Theme D’Halluin Meet in Halluin, France, on 26 June.
Isaacs Tackling Europe Like a Veteran
Travelling abroad presents its
challenges, so it is rare that an athlete
makes a big impression in their first
outing on the international circuit, but
one of South Africa’s latest ‘finds,’
20-year-old 400m runner Gardeo
Isaacs, is bucking that trend. In June
he posted three solid performances
in Poland, starting with a 46.44 in
Bydgoszcz on 12 June, the seventh-best
time of his career. He then went on to
run 46.50 in Sopot on 23 June, followed
by 45.69, the third-best of his career to
date, in Goleniow on the 26 June.
Simbine Coming Into Form
South Africa’s leading 100m
sprinter, Akani Simbine,
who had opted out of racing
the 100m at the National
Championships in April
and instead focused on the
200m, has hit the track on
the international circuit in his
favourite event, the 100m, with
some success. He opened
his international campaign
in Shanghai, China, at the
Diamond League on 18 May
and finished third in 9.95
seconds. Simbine then won the 100m in Boston on 16 June in the USA, clocking
9.92, before flying to Ostrava in the Czech Republic to compete in the Golden
Spike Meet, where he finished fourth in 10.08 on evidently jet-lagged legs. But if
his first two races are anything to go by, the 2019 season could well be a big one
for him.
European Podiums
for Mphahlele
South Africa’s latest middle
distance sensation, the aggressive
front-running Ryan Mphahlele, hit
the European circuit running this
past month. Shortly after arriving
in Europe, he took part in the
Memorial Georges Caillat Meet in
Geneva, Switzerland on 15 June
and raced to a second place with a
time of 3:43.01. A mere three days
later, in Copenhagen, Denmark,
he finished third in a new personal
best time of 3:39.23, shaving 0.22
seconds off his previous best.
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ISSUE 120 JULY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Semenya Saga Rages On
The legal battle between Caster Semenya and the IAAF rages on. She challenged
the findings of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which found that Semenya
had not proven her case against the IAAF, and she would therefore have to take
testosterone-suppressing medication if she wanted to compete in anything from
400m to the mile. The two-time Olympic Champion then took her case to the Swiss
Supreme Court, which temporarily suspended the CAS ruling and gave the IAAF
until the 25 th of June to argue against the suspension. The IAAF gave notice on 25 th
June that it intends to challenge the ruling of the Swiss Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the temporary suspension
meant that Semenya was once again
allowed to compete in her main event,
the 800m, and she took to the track on
30 June in the USA, at the Prefontaine
Classic Diamond League meet at
Stanford University in California. In a
field that included America’s 2017 World
Championships bronze medallist, Ayee
Wilson, Castor extended her four-year
winning streak to 31 races as she took line
honours in 1:55.70. She has stated that
she will not participate in the 2019 World
Champs in Doha if she is not permitted to
run the 800m and defend her World Title.
Van der Walt Mixing it With the Seniors