On Saturday 17 February at the Gauteng North Provincial Championships Oscar Pistorius became the first South African track and field athlete to reach the Olympic Qualifying standard in the men’s 400m. However, on the same day in another province Sunette Viljoen made her mark.
The 2011 World Championships bronze medallist competed in windy conditions at the Central North West Provincial Championships in Potchefstroom where she sent the javelin to 61.42m in the third round. The A-standard is 61m.
The next task will be for Viljoen, and Pistorius to qualify at an international meeting after 31 March as per the selection criteria agreed upon between Athletics SA and SASCOC.
Viljoen will compete at the Yellow Pages meeting in Potchefstroom on 24 March, possibly at the Yellow Pages Interclub meeting on 5 April, the SA Championships and the SA Open Championships on 4 and 5 May. Viljoen has also been invited to compete at Diamond league meetings but still needs to sit with her coach Terseus Liebenberg to make a decision.
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