Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 98, September 2017 | Page 8

IN THE NEWS
South African Athletes Making Headlines – BY REGGIE HUFKIE
Best Ever World Champs For SA
The charge for medals was led by Caster Semenya (1500m/800m) and
Wayde van Niekerk (400m/200m), who both ‘doubled’ for the first
time at a major championship meet by not only entering a second event,
but also medalling in both. Meanwhile, another ‘double act’ saw Luvo
Manyona and Ruswahl Samaai both medals in the Long Jump.
While the 800m is Caster’s main
event and she has already won two
Olympic and two World Champs
titles at the two-lap distance, she
entered the 1500m as well and came
storming through a packed sprint
finish in the final to take the bronze
medal in 4:02.90. Several days later it
was business as usual a she added a
third World Champs title in the 800m,
setting a new SA record of 1:55.16
in the process, showing no effects of
fatigue from the extra workload or
pressure during the champs.
Similarly, Wayde also had to manage an increase in intensity of
competition, as the 200m and 400m heats and finals all took place in a
six-day period. That possibly took its toll and prevented him form emulating
Michael Johnson’s feat of winning gold in both events, but his gold in the
400m (43.98) and silver in the 200m (20.11) is still a remarkable feat!
A few days before that, Luvo and Ruswahl stole the show with their gold
and bronze medal jumps. Manyonga produced a huge 8.48m leap in his
second attempt and only American Jarrion Lawson could get close with his
8.44m effort, while Ruswahl’s 8.32m was good enough for the bronze.
Kesa Clinches Spar
Grand Prix
The national Spar Grand Prix series
of women’s 10km races saw two
more races run in August, and Kesa
Molotsane’s third-place finish in
Pretoria on the 5 th and winning run in
Pietermraitzburg on the 20 th saw her
clinch the series title for the first time.
The win in Pretoria went to Irvette
van Zyl in 34:36, with Nolene Conrad
second, while Kesa broke the tape in
34:20 in Maritxburg, followed home by
Rutendo Nyohora and Irvette.
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ISSUE 98 SEPTEMBER 2017 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Totalsports Women
Paint the Cities Pink
On 9 August, more than
17,500 women packed the
streets of Johannesburg
and Cape Town to raise
awareness for the PinkDrive’s
#RunForLife campaign as they
participated in the Totalsports
Women’s 10km races. In the
Cape, Lebogang Phalula
clocked 34:21 for the win, followed by Nolene Conrad and Zintle
Xiniwe, while Irvette van
Zyl took line honours in
Joburg with her 34:09 run,
with Glenrose Xaba and
Maria Shai rounding out
the podium positions.
Two SA Records in
Week for Walkers
Bouncing back from the disappointment of not being selected for the World
Champs in London, Wayne Snyman clocked a scintillating solo effort
1:21:06 for a new SA Record in the
20km walk at the WPA Race Walking
Grand Prix in Cape Town on 5 August.
However, the new record stood for
eight days, as Lebogang Shange
produced the performance of his life on
13 August at the World Championships
in London, stopping the clock on
1:19:18 for a new South African record
– and just 14 seconds short of a medal
as he came stroming through the field
to finish fourth.
Long jumpers Continue Flying Strong
Fresh from his World
Champs gold medal
performance, SA’s
Luvo Manyonga
joined 2017 Triple
Jump World Champ
Christian Taylor of the
USA in a unique World
Record attempt at
altitude in the French
Alps on 16 August.
They were flown to a
ski resort at 3032m that features a track, where a special competition was
held, but the strong winds put paid to any hopes of records. Luvo still won
the event with a best jump of 8.46m, well short of Mike Powell’s long-
standing World Record of 8.95m.
Meanwhile, World Champs bronze medallist Ruswahl Samaai managed
a credible 2nd position at the Birmingham Diamond League on 20 August.
At the same meet, young Paralympic sprinter Ntando Mahlangu clocked
a very fast 23.16 to win the Men’s T42 200m. It is hard to believe he is still
just 15 years old, and already an international star.
Courtesy
With six medals, including three
golds, South Africa enjoyed its best
ever return at the recent IAAF World
Championships for track and field
that took place in London between
4 and 13 August. Team South Africa
made history by finishing third on
the medal table behind traditional
athletics powerhouses USA and
Kenya, but ahead of notable other
powerhouse nations such as Jamaica
and Great Britain.