Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 124, November 2019 | Page 49

Dominique Scott-Efurd
4 x 100m Relay
Zeney van der Walt
challenge for silverware, but without Wayde and
Caster, we were never guaranteed a medal.”
“After his semi-final, Akani looked imperious and
should have been contesting for silver or bronze in the
final,” says Mathew. “Coleman was always going to
win, unless he false started, but Akani and Andre De
Grasse were to battle it out for the silver or bronze.
Justin Gatlin spoilt the script. He scraped into the
final and produced again. He was the joker in the
pack.” And Paul Gorries, a former World Junior 200m
Champion and the relay coach in Doha, adds, “Gatlin
and De Grasse are championship racers. Come the
final, they always find an extra something.”
Mathew goes on to say that the 100m final is possibly
the most difficult event in world athletics in which to
medal. “It is hard. You have three semi-finals, and only
two out of each semi-final automatically progress to
the final. There are only two more places up for grabs
for the final, and those two come from three races. It
is no walk in the park, and you have very little time to
fix any mistake in this race. Blink and it’s over.”
THE LONG SHOT
On paper, Luvo was probably SA’s best chance of
a medal. His best jump in the build-up to the World
Championships was 8.37m in London in July, which
would have just sneaked the bronze medal in Doha.
Of the eight competitions he entered in 2019 in the
lead-up to Doha, he won five. Ironically, his win in
London was over the man who would claim the World
Title, Tajay Gaye. In Hengelo, Luvo beat an out-of-
sorts Jeffrey Henderson, who finished second in
Doha. However, Gaye produced a blinder when he
leapt to 8.69m in Doha. That is 4cm better than the
best Luvo has ever produced, so it would have taken
something really special for him to defend his title.
For Lindsey, Luvo’s fourth was a good result. “Luvo has
been struggling with injury of late. He is also carrying
weight, and he found himself in the most intense long
jump final he could imagine. He was not as dominant
in 2019 as in previous years, so finishing fourth with
that competition was not a bad performance at all.”
Alongside him, Ruswahl performed as expected. “At
his best he is an 8.50 jumper,” says Mathew, “but he
is consistent around 8.20 to 8.30. In 2017 that was
good enough for a medal, this year it wasn’t. Both
Luvo and Rus will need to be consistently hitting 8.40
and beyond if they want to medal.”
A MISSED CHANCE
Paul believes that South Africa missed out on a
medal in the 4x100m relay, having seen this event
as our best chance of a podium, and he still believes
that the relay is an area where South Africa needs
to focus. “The athletes need to see the World
Championships holistically and not focus on the relay
only once they have competed in their individual
events. They are there to compete in their individual
events and in the relay, and I believe that a mindset
shift will make a difference.”
In the heats, the quartet of Thando Dlodlo, Simon
Magakwe, Clarence Munyai and Akani Simbine broke
the SA and Africa Record when they clocked 37.65
seconds. In the final, SA took fifth place, with the
difference between bronze and fifth place being just
0.3sec, with Japan clocking 37.43 for third and South
Africa coming home in 37.73. “The handover between
Clarence and Simon cost us in the final,” says Paul.
“Clarence was nervous and it showed. Due to other
commitments, he was also the only one of the athletes
who was not able to be at our camp in Gemona, when
we practiced our relays. But remember, this squad
was made up entirely of volunteers. They were not
forced to be part of this.”
However, Clarence cannot use lack of experience as
an excuse. “He went to the Rio Olympics in 2016 and
the Commonwealth Games in 2018,” says Mathew.
“How much bigger of a stage can you get than the
Olympics? He is unbelievably talented, but his mental
game is a challenge.” Paul agrees: “That is an area
where he needs to find himself. He is losing out on
opportunities. He is still young, but if he cannot resolve
his nerves soon, that will stay with him forever and
he will never live up to his full potential. He has all the
weapons in his arsenal to do some incredible things.”
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
In recent years South Africa has been producing
depth in the sprints, but this is the most fiercely
contested part of athletics. “Realistically, only Akani
was going to make the finals,” says Mathew. “Thando
is still very young and this would have been a big
learning curve for him. No-one expected him to
do anything. On current form, he would have been
fortunate to get to the semi-finals, but he was there to
learn, and remember, he was part of the 4x100m relay
team that broke the South Africa and Africa Record.
He has huge potential.”
Neither Mathew nor Paul were pleased with Simon,
the first South African to break 10 seconds in the
100m. “You do not consistently drop 10-oh’s in the
South African season and then when you hit Europe,
you run 10.2’s and worse, and expect to perform at a
World Championships. That simply does not happen,”
says Mathew. Paul, who is Simon’s coach, agrees
wholeheartedly. “Simon definitely performed below
expectations and that is a problem. This was the
perfect World Championships to do something. 10.1
got you into the final, and he was doing that with ease
in the beginning of the year.”
At 34, Simon is running out of time to make
his mark on the world stage. “The problem for
SA’s 4 x 100m
quartet, Thando
Dlodlo, Simon
Magakwe, Akani
Simbine &
Clarence Munyai
Luvo himself expressed his happiness. “I am so happy
that I finished my season healthy. That’s the most
important thing for me, because I had a little niggle in
my ankle. I made it through the season, so I just want
to go back home and celebrate the position I got,”
he said. “The season was long, but I made it through,
and it’s a blessing to have made it to the competition
and see so many South Africans in the crowd. I can’t
change what happened, I just need to look forward to
the future and come back strong.”
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