Local athletes set to shine in London
As SA’s home-based athletes flew into London on Tuesday‚ the Olympic stadium yawned emptily as workers made the final touches ahead of the world championships on Friday.
The fans turned the structure into a vibrant organism during the 2012 London Games for home-grown stars such as Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis, and Jamaica’s charismatic Usain Bolt.
On the final night of the track programme‚ Bolt and Farah‚ having just won gold medals‚ paraded for the appreciative crowd that will surely be as generous for reigning Olympic and world 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk.
Caster Semenya is the sole survivor of SA’s track team from five years ago‚ with Sunette Viljoen injured‚ Anaso Jobodwana unable to qualify and Cornel Fredericks and LJ van Zyl not being picked despite meeting the criteria.
Marathon runner Lusapho April is also back‚ but the course never took him through this venue. Stephen Mokoka‚ who also ran the 42km in 2012‚ will experience this track for the first time in the 10‚000m with Farah on Friday night.
He will be in action alongside sprinter Akani Simbine in the 100m heats and Semenya‚ who is trying her hand at the 1,500m at this level for the first time.
Most of the South Africans are yet to experience goosebumps in this arena‚ which holds much promise for SA.
SA has won nine world championship gold medals in the past 20 years — including the retrospective upgrade for Semenya’s 800m silver behind Russian doper Mariya Savinova.
The class of 2017 could win four or five golds on their own.
Van Niekerk added the 200m to his roster as he bids to become only the second man to win the 200m-400m double since US legend Michael Johnson in 1995.
Semenya is going for the 800m-1,500m double with most onlookers suspecting she will not beat the world’s best at the longer distance.
Long-jumper Luvo Manyonga owns the four best jumps in the world for 2017‚ from 8.61m to 8.65m. He has not competed since injuring his ankle in June.
If he is not fully recovered or a little rusty‚ then there is Ruswahl Samaai‚ the world’s No 2 jumper.
Samaai’s 8.49m personal best is 15cm further than the top-ranked foreigner‚ Tyrone Smith of Bermuda.
And then there is Simbine‚ who ended fifth in the Olympic 100m final at the Rio Games‚ just three-hundredths of a second short of the podium. He is also doing a double‚ competing against Van Niekerk and Clarence Munyai in the 200m.
That is probably the sum total of the country’s realistic medal hopes. /