Rousing send-off for Cape team going to Rio
WESTERN Cape Paralympians received a rousing sendoff from supporters at Cape Town International Airport before jetting off to join the rest of the South African team departing for Brazil today, as the countdown to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games begins.
The 18 athletes from the province have been identified as some of the best the Western Cape has produced.
While the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) has set a target of 20 medals, team coach Daniel Damon believes the athletes could bring in more than 25 medals.
“It is a lot of hard work that these guys have gone through. You have to practise five to six days a week for you to be in good shape to qualify for the Olympics. This is a very strong team. It can be our best.
“This team will bring in a lot of medals and we are looking at more than 25 medals.”
Daniels said most athletes had performed well at the world championships and improved their ranking.
Daniels boasted of athletes such as Ernst van Dyk, Zanele Situ, Mpumelelo Mhlongo, Charl du Toit and Jonathan Ntutu, among others.
Stellenbosch resident Situ, who will be taking part in her fifth paralympic games and will be the country’s flag bearer, said training preparations had gone well and now it was up to her to showcase her talent.
Situ was the first black gold medallist in the 2000 Paralympic Games, and will take part in javelin, shot put and discus events.
Wheelchair racing and para-cycling athlete Van Dyk aims to clinch three medals.
He described the last three months of preparations as very intense, saying they had to train for about 20 hours a week: “I am as strong and good as I am ever going to get, but you never know what your opponents have done.
“The problem in my event is that there is the technology component… a lot of other countries have really good resources while we are lagging behind a little bit.”