SOUTH AFRICA AT THE WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIPS
South Africa traditionally enjoys success at the World U20 Championships , with such names as LJ Van Zyl , Hardus Pienaar , Paul Gorries , Frantz Kruger , Marius Corbett , Zokwakhana ‘ Soks ’ Zazini and Zeney van der Walt amongst those who brought home gold medals at this level . And let ’ s not forget the World Record run by our men ’ s 4x100m relay team in 2021 at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi !
Happily , at the 2022 World U20 Champs in Cali , Columbia , that run of success continued , with Team SA coming home with five medals and finishing fifth on the medals table . The final tally was two golds , one silver and two bronze medals , with another gold unfortunately lost to a disqualification in the men ’ s 4x100m relay .
THROWING DOWN THE GAUNTLET
One of the two gold medals came courtesy of Lythe Pillay in the men ’ s 400m ( see main article ), while the other was won by Mine De Klerk in the women ’ s shot put , where she pushed a winning distance of 17.17m . That saw her successfully defend the title she won a year ago in Nairobi . Furtermore , having won the silver medal in the women ’ s discus in 2021 with a throw of 53.50m , De Klerk also set out to medal again in this event , but in spite of throwing 53.54cm and setting a new PB and SA U20 Record , she had to settle for the bronze this time .
SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS
High jumper Brian Raats arrived in Cali as a medal contender , possibly even a gold medal contender , after his 2.26m jump in Potchefstroom to win the SA U20 title earlier this year , which ranked him number one in the world going into the World Championships . Unfortunately , rainy weather during the final made it tricky for the athletes to obtain sure footing in their run-up and launch , and a tight competition was eventually won by Jamaica ’ s Brandon Pottinger with his 2.14m height , while Raats finished second on countback and earned the silver medal as the leading jumper out of five that all obtained a height of 2.10m .
Raats could have gone to the Commonwealth Games shortly after the Cali meet , and would have been a medal contender there , too , but he has a wise head on his young shoulders , guided astutely by both his father and his coach , Jonathan Greyvenstein , who led Jacques Freitag to two World Championship gold medals in the early 2000s . According to Greyvenstein , there will be many more Commonwealth Games , World Championship and Olympic Games
Celebrating our medallists upon their return from Cali , from left : Brian Raats , ASA Board Member Enoch Skosana , Wayde Pillay and Benjamin Richardson
opportunities for Raats , but he only had the one shot left at the World U20 Title , and his silver medal is a big improvement on his fifth place from 2021 .
DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
In 2021 , Benjamin Richardson was ‘ all arms and legs ’ as he claimed the silver medal in the men ’ s 100m at the World U20 Championships . He went on to be part of that gold medal-winning 4x100m relay team that set a World Record at those Nairobi Champs . This time , in Cali , Benjamin had to settle for bronze in the 100m final , but it could at least have been silver had he gotten a better start . “ I sat in the blocks , and when I saw them run away , I panicked and forgot all that my coach taught me . It was only towards the end that it started to click again , and I was able to close and get the bronze ,” he says .
Benjamin also finished fourth in the 200m , an event with both he and coach Paul Gorries believe will be his better race in the future . Furthermore , Benjamin and training partner Bradley Nkoana were part of the 4x100m relay squad that won their race , only to be disqualified for a technical infringement . However , both athletes are part of the future of SA sprinting , and Nkoana is still only 17 and has another World U20 Championships in him .
REMEMBER THESE NAMES
In her first World U20 Championships 17-year-old Viwe Jingqe reached the final of the women ’ s 100m ,
Mine De Klerk wins the women ’ s Shot Put title in Cali .
clocking 11.23 seconds to equal her own SA U20 Record . It was good enough for sixth place , and given that she will still be eligible for the next U20 World Championships in 2024 , she should be a real contender for a medal then .
In other results , Anja Nel finished fourth in the women ’ s 400m hurdles , Karmen Fouche was sixth in the women ’ s long jump , the men ’ s 4x400m relay team finished fifth , while yet another 17-year-old , Precious Molepe , made the women ’ s 400m final . Molepe should line up alongside Jingqe and Nkoana at the next World U20 Championships in 2024 .
Furthermore , in the women ’ s 1500m , Danielle Verster ’ s 4:16.36 was just three seconds slower than her best of 4:13.78 , and she is another athlete to keep a close eye on in terms of future promise . She is the daughter of SA middle distance legends , Jean and Alta Verster , and has just enrolled in college in Albuquerque in the USA , following a similar path to her father , who ran for Nebraska University early on his career .
Benjamin Richardson claims bronze in the men ’ s 100m final . The women ’ s 100m final included SA ’ s Viwe Jingqi .
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