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When asking what is right with South Africa, our sportsmen and women will always top the list.

With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11 August this year, some of our athletic ambassadors have already secured their spot in the Games, with quite a few more booking their place at this weekend’s SA Senior Track and Field Championships in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal.

Undoubtedly one of the superstars of the championship, and someone whose career is worth keeping an eye on, was the fast-rising sprinter Benjamin Richardson who even outran seasoned veteran Wayde van Niekerk in the 200m final on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Richardson crossed the line in 20.16 seconds, which is the exact Olympic entry standard mark for the men’s 200m at the Paris Games.

Van Niekerk came second in 20.31sec.  It should be noted that the 31-year-old Van Niekerk has already qualified for the Games in his specialist 400m event, with a 44.08sec win at a Diamond League meet in Poland on 16 July, which was a few days after the Olympic qualifying window opened that month.

 

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In the 400m, both Lythe Pillay and Zakithi Nene clocked sub-45 second times in the final, breaching the 45.00 qualifying mark needed for a place on Team SA. Pillay won in 44.31sec, while Nene took the runners-up spot in a time of 44.80sec.

Others who also booked their provisional spots in the team this weekend were the duo of women’s 400m hurdles: Zenéy Geldenhuys (formerly Van der Walt) and Rogail Joseph. Geldenhuys, 23, won the 400m hurdles final on Friday in a time of 54.72 seconds, ahead of the 24-year-old Joseph, who finished second in 54.84sec, which was one-hundredth of a second within the 54.85sec qualifying benchmark.

Speedster Bayanda Walaza, the 18-year-old Grade 12 pupil at Curro Hazeldean High School in Pretoria, clocked 10.27 seconds at the meet, but fortunately already got his Olympic nod shortly after the qualifying window opened in July last year after running a breathtaking 9.97 seconds at a Diamond League meet in Poland on 16 July 2023.

The budding sprinter blitzed to two national titles at the SA junior championships in Pretoria last month, where he met the qualifying criteria with a personal best time, also clocking a 20.34 seconds to claim the 200m crown.

Other athletes who have already qualified for Team SA’s athletics squad are:

• Luxolo Adams (200m)
• Prudence Sekgodiso (800m)
• Tshepo Tshite (1 500m)
• Adriaan Wildschutt (5 000m)
• Marioné Fourie (100m hurdles)
• Jovan van Vuuren (long jump)

Marathon

• Stephen Mokoka
• Gerda Steyn
• Irvette van Zyl

Meanwhile, track athletes who have not qualified for the Olympics have until 30 June to book a place on the Team SA flight to Paris.

 

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[source:citypress]