The South African athletics team stood up and delivered at the Olympic Games, with javelin thrower Jo-Ane van Dyk and the national 4x100m relay team raking in two medals at the quadrennial showpiece in Paris.
Van Dyk displayed the form of her life in the women’s javelin throw competition, producing the biggest surprise of the SA squad’s track and field campaign in the French capital.
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In the qualifying round, Van Dyk launched a personal best of 64.22m with her first throw, progressing to the final as a real medal contender. And she followed through in spectacular fashion.
In the final, the 26-year-old African champion landed the javelin at 63.93m with her second attempt, grabbing second place behind Haruka Kitaguchi of Japan, who won gold with an opening attempt of 65.80m, while Czech athlete Nikola Ogrodnikova earned bronze (63.68m).
4x100m relay
The night before, the national men’s 4x100m relay team were equally spectacular, breaking the SA record and also securing the silver medal.
Experienced sprinters Akani Simbine and Shaun Maswanganyi combined well with teenagers Bradley Nkoana and Bayanda Walaza to take second position in a hard-fought battle in 37.57 seconds. They clipped 0.08 off the national record of 37.65 set in 2019.
Up front, Canada won gold in 37.50, while Great Britain grabbed bronze in 37.61.
Simbine also stood out in the men’s 100m event, claiming fourth spot to cement his status as the most consistent sprinter on the planet.
The 30-year-old rocket was involved in a blanket finish, dipping on the line in 9.82 and taking 0.02 off his national record (9.84) which he set in Hungary in 2021.
Simbine narrowly missed out on a medal in the 100m sprint at the third successive edition of the Olympic Games, after finishing fifth at the Rio 2016 showpiece and fourth in Tokyo three years ago.
Noah Lyles of the United States won gold in 9.79, edging out Jamaican athlete Kishane Thompson (also 9.79) and fellow American Fred Kerley (9.81).
4x400m relay
In the men’s 4x400m relay, the SA team did well to put up a fight in the final without the services of 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk, who was not available for the medal battle in the four-lap event.
Antonie Nortje was found to have been impeded in the first-round heats after he fell to the track and had to pick himself up, and while the SA team ended seventh in their race in 3:03.19, they were given a spot in the final after a review by technical officials.
The SA team – Gardeo Isaacs, Zakithi Nene, Lythe Pillay and Nortje – went on to finish fifth in the final in 2:58.12, setting a new national 4x400m record.
Other events
In other events at the Paris Olympics, the SA track and field team delivered in style.
Though she looked really comfortable in winning her semifinal race, 22-year-old middle-distance runner Prudence Sekgodiso struggled in the closing stages of the women’s 800m final, but she gained valuable experience by taking eighth position in 1:58.79.
Long-distance runner Adriaan Wildschutt was perhaps even more superb in the men’s 10 000m final, staying in contention for most of the race and finishing 10th in 26:50.64, breaking his own national record of 26:55.54.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, Zeney Geldenhuys finished third in her race in 53.90 seconds, just 0.16 outside the 38-year-old SA record held by Myrtle Bothma (53.74). She missed out on a place in the final by 0.10.
Rogail Joseph also ran well, taking third position in her semifinal in 54.12 to slice 0.44 off the career best (54.56) she set in the first-round heats two days earlier.
On the road, Elroy Gelant was the best of the SA team’s marathon runners, finishing 11th in the men’s race in 2:09:07, while rookie marathon runner Cian Oldknow was the top South African in the women’s race, taking 32nd position in 2:30:29.
