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Despite being hit by a spate of withdrawals of high-profile athletes over the past few days, Athletics SA (ASA) believes it has dispatched a capable squad to the African Games currently under way in Brazzaville, Congo.
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships medallists Wayde van Niekerk (400m) and Sunette Viljoen (javelin), as well as the Beijing global meeting’s short sprints semifinalist Akani Simbine and 400m hurdler LJ van Zyl, were the big names who withdrew, according to ASA athletes coordinator Hezekiél Sepeng.
“We had about 24 withdrawals, but we received medical certificates from most of those who cited injury as the reason for pulling out.
“But we remain positive, as we have close to 50 athletes who will compete in Congo,” said Sepeng.
The 1996 Olympic silver medallist refused to be drawn into the specific details on the withdrawals of Van Niekerk, Viljoen and Simbine, who form a small group of athletes who are contracted to the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee’s operational excellence programme.
Van Zyl withdrew to be with his newly born baby.
Sepeng said the bulk of the team was already in the central African country ahead of the athletics programme that starts tomorrow.
He said the remaining group, headed by Caster Semenya and Khotso Mokoena, were due to join the rest of the team in the Congo yesterday.
Among those who will lead Team SA’s medal charge in the track and field events in Congo-Brazzaville are Beijing 200m bronze medallist Anaso Jobodwana, jumpers Zarck Visser and Ruswahl Samaai, as well as a team of racewalkers that includes Lebogang Shange.
The team has also been boosted with the likes of sprinters Wenda Nel (400m hurdles), Justine Palframan (200m and 400m) and Carina Horn (100m), who all competed at the world championships in Beijing.
The South African athletics team finished seventh on the medal table with a total haul of 13 – two gold, eight silver and three bronze – at the previous African Games in Mozambique in 2011.
The country ended the multicoded event in Maputo at the top of the table, with a total of 156 medals – 61 gold, 55 silver and 40 bronze.
Sepeng said the swimming team’s exploits in the Congo pool had left a good marker for the athletics squad to continue the onslaught.
South Africa is ranked at number one in track and field in Africa, a status it assumed after the Senior African Athletics Championships in Marrakech, Morocco, last year
