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JOHANNESBURG, Tuesday, 15 August - Athletics South Africa announced today that despite sending a team which was made up of mostly young athletes whom the country is looking for to the future, South Africa still remains the number one force in athletics on the Continent. This emerged as South Africa once again stayed top of the medal table with a total of 27 medals at the 15th African Athletics Championships in Mauritius from the 9-13 August.
Conditions were anything but easy as the athletes experienced headwinds in all the track events of sometimes in excess of 3m/s. Not only was the wind gusting and swirling in the stadium, it was also a bitterly cold wind, making life even more difficult. The competition was tough, and attracted some of the best athletes in Africa.
Promising for Athletics South Africa’s drive to build for the future was that only three of the 27 medals won by South Africa came from the more experienced athletes; the rest was won by the new crop of talent. This emphasizes ASA’s message to the nation, after the fall in Helskinki, that it’s strategy would now be to focus on the youth of the country. This has since paid dividends; first in Australia at the Commowealth Games, and now in Mauritius.
DAY 1 Highlights
Day 1 saw the hugely talented Khotso Mokoena involved in a titanic battle with archrival Igniscious Gaisah from Ghana. Lying third up until the final round Mokoena unleashed a mammoth jump of 8.45m – his best ever. Sadly with a tailwind of 4m plus it will only register as a lifetime best, not as a new South African record. That jump propelled Mokoena into the lead, but Gaisah showed all his experience to come back with an 8.51m leap for Gold. The second silver of the day came from a very young member of the “old” guard. African record holder in the shot put, Janus Robberts had to settle for silver after having had wrist surgery earlier in the year.
DAY 2 Highlights
Lindi Roux made everyone proud when she was the was able to win the first medal of day two in the Pole Vault. Her 3.60m vault was good enough for joint silver. Not to be outdone, Geraldine Pillay won her third African Championship medal. The sprinter who came into amazing form at the Commonwealth Games, was on a quest for double gold, but had to settle for silver behind this year’s world list leader Anim Vida. The silver medal though is one better than her bronze of 2 years ago.
LJ Van Zyl is fast developing a reputation as being a Championship runner. In Melbourne this year he blitzed to a 48.05sec win in the 400mh to claim his first Senior Championship gold. In Mauritius, he again won Gold, again beating his more favoured training partner Alwyn Myburgh. Van Zyl had been battling to recover from the flu during his European sojourn but was clearly in good form when he again relegated his friend and training partner Myburgh to the silver medal position.
To bring the medal tally up to 6 after day two, Terence Wepener earned a bronze medal in the decathlon scoring just over 7000 points (7084)
DAY 3 Highlights
Janice Josephs continued to show her amazing talent , and from the very first of the 7-event competition she stamped her authority on the rest of the field. At the end of day 1 of her two-day event, Josephs had an excess of 500-point lead.
Paul Gorries won his first Senior Championship medal after showing much promise as a Junior, winning the World Junior 200m title in 2000. Gorries showed all his experience by winning silver in the 400m in 45.56sec behind Gary Kikaya.
Everyone expected the Kenyans to make a clean sweep of the 3000m steeplechase, but Rubens Ramolefi had other plans. The first year law student came storming through in the final 300m to snatch the bronze medal and thus denying Kenya the expected three medals.
The final medal of the day came in the mens 4x100m relay. It was the same team who won silver at the Commonwealth Games who lined up in the finals, with the exception of Snyman Prinsloo who had to stay at home, having not recovered from an injury. The relay team came home with the silver in 39.68sec, a mere 5/100th behind winners Nigeria.
DAY 4 Highlights
Day 4 was the big day for South Africa, winning 4 Gold Medals to bring them to the top of the medal standings. Chris Harmse and Okkert Brits, two of the most experienced members of the 37 strong team made sure they were going to the World Cup in Athens in September to represent Africa. Harmse won with a throw of 77.55m whilst Brits cleared 5.20m on his second attempt to win. For Harmse this was a seasons best which hopefully bodes well for the World Cup. Brits had to battle with incredibly strong cross winds, but said he’ll show what he is capable of at the World Cup.
Khotso Mokoena was looking for gold in the Triple Jump to add to his silver of the Long Jump, but again had to settle for silver with a distance of 16.67m. Having only just moved out the Junior ranks – he represented South Africa at the World Junior Championships in 2004 – Mokoena will not be to upset about the two silver medals. He still has a long a promising career ahead of him.
As expected South Africa won Gold and Silver in the ladies Javelin, with the new SA Record Holder Justine Robbeson registering a throw of 60.60m – her 5th time over 60m this year, turning her into one of the most consistent throwers on the World Circuit. Silver went to her training partner Sunette Viljoen with a throw of 55.64.
Janice Josephs won her first major international title in the Heptathlon, winning 6 of the 7 events, her only “defeat” coming in the shot put. Her winning margin - a massive 944 points.
The young Ruan De Vries carried the flag for South Africa finishing third in 14.05secs in the 110m hurdles.
Day 5 Highlights
There were no surprises in the men’s Javelin final as Hardus Piennaar and Gerbrandt Grobler claimed the gold and silver medals. Piennaar won with a throw of 77.55m, Grobler registering 75.95m. Geraldine Pillay was again beat by Anim Vida, this time in 200m to claim her second silver medal of the Championships whilst Leigh Julies won Bronze in the men’s 200m (20.82sec).
High Jumper Ramsey Carelse continued on his upward curve in the high jump after claiming the bronze medal. Carelse had a successful indoor campaign early this year going over 2.24m in Euriope.
The final events of the Championships were the two 4x400m relays. The ladies team won Gold in 3.36;88 and the men won the silver medal in 3.07;65. The men’s team was without anchor runner LJ Van Zyl who was complaining of an injury.
Final medal tally by a very young team, one upon which Athletics South Africa is building for the future, 10 Gold, 12 Silver and 5 Bronze.
source ASA
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