Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 74, September 2015 | Page 8

IN THE NEWS

South African athletes and events making headlines

At the IAAF World Youth Championships in Cali, Columbia from 15 to
19 July, Team South Africa finished fifth on the medal table with two
golds for Werner Visser (discus throw) and Paul Botha (javelin
throw), two silvers for Kyle Appel (200m) and the 4x400 mixed relay
team (of which Appel was also a member), and a bronze for Nicole de
Bruyn (200m).

On Top in Mauritius

Four South African athletes ran to
podium positions in the sixth LUX
Mauritius Marathon, Half Marathon
& 10km on 19 July, with veteran
Angelique Rabie winning the
women’s marathon in 3:33:37 and
Candyce Hall coming home second
in 3:39:44, while it was third for
Tanya Posthumus-Fox in the
women’s half. In the 10km, Gustav
Brink was third man across the line.

On Song in Sweden

The South African duo of Akani
Simbine and Ruswahl Samaai both
put in impressive displays in Sweden
at the Karlstad Grand Prix meeting on
23 July, with Akani posting a sprint win
double with times of 10.09 and 20.64
seconds for the men’s 100m and 200m
respectively, in spite of unfavourable
conditions
and a slight
hamstring
niggle.
Meanwhile,
in the men’s
long jump, Commonwealth Games bronze
medallist Ruswahl leapt 7.88m for second
place in his first competition after 10 weeks
out injured.

Lucky Repeats in PE

Lucky Mohale took the SA Half Marathon title in Port Elizabeth on 25
July when he clocked 1:02:06 after outsprinting Mbongeni Nxazozo
by one second. Lusapho April was third in 1:02:14, while defending
champion Stephen Mokoka, who has won this title five times in the last
seven years, had to settle for seventh place. This was Lucky’s second
21km national title, having also won it in 2010, also in PE. In the men’s
veteran category, Shadrack Hoff blitzed a
new SA record of 1:04:35, taking 13 seconds
off Mluleki Nobanda’s mark of 2009, while
the women’s title went to Lebo Phalula in a
PB 1:11:54. She was followed home by twin
sister Lebogang (1:12:18) and Cornelia
Joubert (1:12:37), also PB performances.

seconds. Other notable SA finishes at
the meet were LJ van Zyl (second in
the men’s 400m hurdles, 49.27, with
Cornel Fredericks ninth in 51.22
in only his second race since injury),
Zarck Visser (second in the men’s
long jump with 8.21m, with Khotso
Mokoena fourth on 8.16m), Anaso
Jobodwana (third in the men’s
200m, 20.20), Sunette Viljoen
(fourth in the women’s javelin,
63.14m), and Wenda Nel (fifth in
the women’s 400m hurdles, 54.81).

Podium Present for Anaso

Birthday boy Anaso Jobodwana
celebrated in style at the chilly DN Galan Diamond League meeting in
Stockholm, Sweden on 30 July, with a second place finish in the men’s
200m, with Sunette Viljoen also winning silver in the women’s javelin
(64.03m) and Khotso Mokoena taking bronze in the men’s long jump
with his 7.87m leap. Also celebrating her birthday was Wenda Nel,
who finished fifth in the 400m hurdles in 55.26, and Carina Horn was
also fifth in the women’s 100m (11.24)

Richard Books Rio Spot

Triathlete Richard Murray used his running speed to claim third place
at the Rio Triathlon test event on 2 August in Brazil, thus booking his
spot at next year’s Rio Olympics, since the top three at the test event
are guaranteed automatic qualification. Spain’s Javier Gomez won in
1:48:26 from France’s Vincent Luis (1:48:40) as Murray clocked the
fastest run of the day, a blistering 30:30 for 10km, to grab the final
podium position in 1:49.01.

Quick Results
• Paralympians Charl du Toit (11.69) and Fanie van der Merwe
(11.77) took first and second spot in the men’s T37 100m event at
the London IPC Grand Final on 27 July.
• Former 800m World Champion Caster Semenya clocked a winning
2:00.72 at a meet in Linz, Austria on 1 August, having finished second
three days earlier in Tabor, in the Czech Republic, with a 2:05.47.
• At the Copenhagen Games in Denamark (5 August), Dikotsi Lekopa won
the men’s 3000m steeplechase in 8:32.21 to set a new meeting record.

More Diamond Delight for Wayde

Wayde van Niekerk led the SA charge at
the IAAF Diamond League meet in London
on 25 July, winning the men’s 400m in 44.63

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ISSUE 74 SEPTEMBER 2015 / www.modernathlete.co.za

Thanks to Distance Running Results, compiled by Riël Hauman, for
some of these news snippets.

Images: Backpagepix, Reg Caldecott, SASCOC Images, courtesy athletes

Five for Fifth for Youth