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With South Africa’s Paralympics poster boy Oscar Pistorius in jail for murder and with Fanie Lombaard and Natalie du Toit having retired, top wheelchair racer and handcyclist Ernst Francois van Dyk is set to be the face of Mzansi’s 45-member-strong Paralympic team.
The team announced by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) on Tuesday will represent the country at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from September 7 to 18.
With a record 10 Boston Marathon wheelchair titles, a handcycling road race gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Summer Paralympics, as well as bronze in the wheelchair marathon at the same event, Van Dyk is a sure bet for at least a single gong at the Games.
Besides his on-the-field achievements, Van Dyk is also a proud recipient of the 2006 Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.
The accomplished 43-year-old face of the team – who might be participating in his last Paralympics before his age catches up with him – is accompanied by equally able Paralympians.
Some of the players expected to bring home medals are wheelchair tennis player Lucas Sithole, his female counterpart Kgothatso Montjane, athletes Hilton Langenhoven, Zanele Situ, Ilse Carstens and Zandile Nhlapo, as well as paracanoeist Graham Paull and parashooter Von Zeuner Kohne.
The team that never fails to make South Africa proud at big events is expected to increase their medal tally of 29 at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.
And, in doing so, they will confirm Sascoc CEO Tubby Reddy’s assertions when the team was announced: “Our Paralympians have always done us proud at previous games and South Africa has a track record of excellent results, evidenced by obtaining a total of 29 medals in London in 2012.
“I have no doubt that this team will maintain this standard and [perform] even better in Rio.”
Sascoc president Gideon Sam is similarly appreciative of what the team has achieved over the years, and has high hopes for the upcoming Games.
“When it comes to delivery for South African sporting glory, our Paralympic aces have always put their hands up.
“I see Rio as being no different to previous competitions and we will be building on an amazing legacy left by the previous generation,” said Sam.
“Since readmission to international sport, our Paralympians have only once failed to bring back less than a double-figure medal tally, and that was way back in 1992.
“We will once again be looking to this excellent blend of experience and youth to bring more honour to South Africa.”
South Africa took 10 competitors to the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Spain, and they won eight medals – four gold, one silver and three bronze – finishing 27th on the medal table.
The Newcastle-born Sithole, a left-handed tennis player who turns 30 on September 30, is the reigning US Open champion and bowed out in the last 16 at the 2012 Games.
He is ranked 2nd in the world.
Montjane is ranked 5th in the world, is South Africa’s number one female wheelchair tennis player, holds 29 singles titles and was a member of the South African team at both the 2008 and 2012 Paralympics. The Limpopo-born player was a 2009 and 2011 World Team Cup participant.
Langenhoven is a three-time Paralympic champion. He competes mainly in category F12 (visual impairment) long jump events.
He boasts a silver medal in the men’s long jump F12 event from the 2004 Games.
He also collected a gold medal in the men’s 200m (T12 event), a gold medal in the men’s long jump (F12 event) and a gold medal in the men’s pentathlon (P12 event) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China.
Kohne is a multiple World Cup medallist in shooting, while Paull of the Dabulamanzi Canoe Club at Emmarentia Dam, who has been paddling for a mere two years, has shown great potential and is expected to crown a good year in Rio.
