TRACK & FIELD
legal course . It is therefore likely that the two will use some of the Absa Run Your City Series events as part of their preparations for both the World Athletics Championships and World Half Marathon Championships .
Opportunities to Develop
While South Africa has done quite well on the international stage in recent years , the country has had a massive problem for years in finding , nurturing and retaining female athletes in the sport , and the hope is that Mire Reinstorf , Mine de Klerk and Dane Roets will be the trail blazers for the next generation of female athletes . All three won medals at the World Under-20 Championships in 2021 in Nairobi , with De Klerk winning two , but this remains an area that needs huge investment in all forms by ASA – financial , coaching , support , systems , etc – and this is a long road that will need to be taken for the Federation .
Precious Mashele ( left ) & Mbuleli Mthanga
The International Scene
Fireworks are expected in a packed and explosive 2022 global athletics season , and there are sure to be many exciting races across the spectrum of the sport , but these three events are set to stand out amongst the crowd .
Smoking Hot Men ’ s 100m
The men ’ s 100m final at the World Athletics Championships will be one of the most eagerly awaited races in for 2022 . In the USA alone , you have a plethora of fast men who could potentially lead America to a clean sweep in the event . Christian Coleman is back from a doping ban , and as defending World Champion , he has a wild card entry for the World Championships . That means that the USA could field four athletes , and any one of Fred Kerley , Ronnie Baker , Trayvon Bromell , Marvin Bracy , Isiah Young and Kenneth Bednarek could be in the team . And on home soil , on the Oregon track ? Well , the Americans will be difficult to beat .
Trio of Men Pushing 400m Hurdles
Norway ’ s Karsten Warholm is seen as a descendant of the Vikings , and he brought the conquering spirit of the Vikings to the track in 2021 . He is the only man to have ever gone sub-46 seconds in the 400m hurdles , but in last year ’ s Olympic final , Rai Benjamin of the USA and Brazil ’ s Alison dos Santos also went under the long standing , 29-year-old World Record of 46.78 , set by Kevin Young in 1992 . Imagine beating the previous World Record and only finishing third ! The battle between these three will continue where it left off in 2021 .
Karsten Warholm
Women ’ s 100m World Record to fall ?
Elaine Thompson-Herah came oh so close to the World Record of Flo Jo ( Florence Griffith ) Joyner of 10.49 . The Jamaican clocked 10.50 , and the way she looked in executing her racing in 2021 means that Flo J ’ s record , which has stood since 1988 , is on borrowed time . If the precociously talented ShaCarri Richardson ( USA ) is able to put all that focus that she has off the track onto the track , then Thompson-Herah will have somebody breathing down her neck , and between the two , the odds are good that the World Record will go .
Elaine Thompson-Herah
But there will be a number of others who will raise their hands . South Africa ’ s Akani Simbine is tired of being squeezed out of the medals , and the Olympic Champion , Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy no longer has the unknown quantity label . He now runs with a bull ’ s eye on his back , as everyone wants to take down the Olympic Champion . Also , don ’ t discount the big match championship temperament of Canada ’ s Andre De Grasse . He has bagged medals at all championships in both 100 and 200 since the Rio Olympics , and in 2021 won the 200m gold in Tokyo . It is shaping up to become a race for the ages .
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