Share

It’s the Olympics, act one!

accreditation
Wayde van Niekerk 
PHOTO: Photo24
Wayde van Niekerk PHOTO: Photo24

Anaso Jobodwana (200m) and Cornel Fredericks (400m hurdles) must, like all other Olympic hopefuls, run the domestic championships as a prerequisite to be considered for Rio Olympic Games selection.

While Jobodwana’s camp was reluctant to give any details on the US-based sprinter’s plans, Fredericks’ coach, Malcolm Arnold, told City Press from the UK this week that his charge was ready for the nationals.

“He has done no races so far – it is much too cold here in the UK and we have not started competition yet. His fitness levels are good. When he returns from South Africa, he will begin his competitions in Europe,” Arnold said in an emailed response.

The University of Bath-based Fredericks was expected to arrive from England last Saturday, a few days before his bid to reclaim the SA title from his former training partner LJ van Zyl on Friday.

The men’s 400m hurdles Olympic qualifying standard is 49.40 seconds, while Wenda Nel is a favourite in the women’s race that requires athletes to meet the 56.20-second entry mark.

In the shorter sprints, Akani Simbine has already met the 100m qualifying standard of 10.16 seconds. He clocked a season-best 9.96-second national record time in his first competitive race last month.

The 22-year-old Tuks Athletics Club runner is the defending champion of the shorter dash.

It remains to be seen who will run away with the men’s 200m crown should defending champ Jobodwana and Ncincilili Titi – also based in the US at the University of South Carolina – contest the half lap, starting with the heats on Saturday.

World championships bronze medallist Jobodwana has already breached the Rio 200m standard entry time of 20.50 seconds.

Titi anchored the SA World Students 4x100m relay team to a bronze medal in Gwangju, South Korea, last year.

Defending 200m and 400m champion Justine Palframan, with 100m record holder Carina Horn, will be the star attractions in the women’s sprints.

Friday will see Van Niekerk start the defence of his title in the one-lap heats. The final is on Saturday at lunchtime.

“Dreamer” gave a sneak preview of what to expect from him this year courtesy of a personal best sub-10-second time of 9.98 seconds over the 100m during the Free State Championships last month.

Together with Simbine, Van Niekerk is leading the pack in the fastest 100m times so far in the world.

In middle-distance competition, Caster Semenya (800m), Stephen Mokoka (10 000m) and Johan Cronje (1 500m) are odds-on favourites to defend their titles. Semenya, who has already met qualifying standards in the 800m and 400m, hinted this week that she might tackle the one-lap and 1 500m as well.

Meanwhile, Dom Scott-Efurd (23), a South African student based at the University of Arkansas in the US, has also confirmed that she will race in Stellenbosch. The 5 000m specialist narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Olympics last weekend. Her winning time of 15:25.10 in the 5 000m in California was outside the 15:24.00 Rio entry standard.

The spotlight in the other events will be on the men’s long jump competition, where returnee long jumper Luvo Manyonga (25), will be marking a first appearance since he last won the title, in 2011.

The former junior world champion has seemingly won a long battle with his drug addiction to methamphetamine – commonly known as tik – since he relocated to the Tuks Athletics Club in Pretoria a year ago.

A reformed Manyonga has already qualified for the Olympics with his two best jumps so far this season.

He recorded an 8.30m leap during the second leg of the Athletics SA Nite Series last month, having opened with a distance of 8.20m at the provincial championships a few days earlier.

But competition is set to be fierce in the horizontal jumps, with defending champ Ruswahl Samaai and 2014 winner Zarck Visser also capable of posting 8.30m-plus leaps.

The SA Aquatics Championships

The championships take place at the Kings Park Aquatic Centre in Durban Sunday until Saturday.

Defending Olympic champion Chad le Clos has described these championships as the “biggest swimming event South Africa will host”.

Just like the track and field event, the week-long swimming nationals will serve as Olympic trials, with swimmers aiming for the Games’ A-standard entry times.

According to Rio selection criteria, only the fastest two swimmers across the 14 men’s and women’s events who achieve the qualifying standards in individual events will be considered for Rio.

Le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh, another gold medallist from the 2012 Olympics, are among a handful of those who have provisionally booked their berths in Rio, with veteran Olympian Roland Schoeman still to chase qualifying times in the 50m and 100m freestyle races this week.

The Durban-born Le Clos told City Press this week: “We are going to see some great swimming and I am excited to race in front of my home crowd. About 80 people from my family will come down wearing Le Clos T-shirts to the event.”

The three-time world champion over the 100m and 200m butterfly will return to the pool on the back of his haul of four gold medals at the SA Swimming Grand Prix in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, in February.

“This year is probably going to be the biggest Olympics for us as South Africans. There are youngsters who are coming through now,” said Le Clos, who will contest the 100m and 200m butterfly, as well as the 50m and 200m freestyle.

Already, Jarred Crous (19), a 2014 Youth Olympian, upstaged Van der Burgh in the 100m breaststroke during the Stellenbosch Grand Prix two months ago.

There is also a golden girl in the making in Tatjana Schoenmaker (18), who will compete in the 50m and 200m breaststroke events.

Schoenmaker, Chris Reid, Brad Tandy and Myles Brown have all swum faster than the Olympic qualification times in their respective events.

After the SA champs, Le Clos said he would head to Europe to spend “about six to seven weeks of training and another few weeks in America” en route to Rio for the Olympics.

“Hopefully, everything will get better as we go along.”

Swimmers who meet the Rio qualifying standards are expected to attend a pre-Olympic training camp in mid-July.

  • Performances at the two-day SA Senior Track and Field Championships (at the Coetzenburg Stadium in Stellenbosch on Friday and Saturday to be epic, with South Africa’s overseas-based track and field stars expected to pitch for this weekend’s championships. Reigning world 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk will be the main draw card.

TALK TO US

What must SA athletics and swimming governing bodies do to make their national championships more attractive?

SMS us on 35697 using the keyword NATIONALS and tell us what you think. SMSes cost R1.50 each.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you believe that the various planned marches against load shedding will prompt government to bring solutions and resolve the power crisis?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes
20% - 103 votes
No
80% - 401 votes
Vote