Cross country squad named
ATHLETICS South Africa (ASA) yesterday named a provisional 50-member squad for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda, in March.
The squad – selected based on results of last year’s SA Cross Country Championships in George – consists of 14 senior men, and 12 athletes in each of the senior women, junior men and women categories.
Ikageng Gaorekwe and Kabelo Melamu – who’ll be competing in their first season as senior athletes – have been added to the senior men’s squad that boasts the seasoned Elroy Gelant.
Gaorekwe and Melamu have been handed an opportunity to develop despite competing in the junior race at the national championships.
While no national cross country trials will be held this year, senior athletes and junior men will have a chance to prove their fitness at the Johnson Crane 10km race in Benoni on January 29.
Junior women will compete for places in the final team of the 5 000m race at the Central Gauteng League Meeting in Germiston on January 21.
ASA will also select a team to compete in the new mixed relay event at the global offroad showpiece.
Wayde van Niekerk is in line for another global honours after he was nominated for the Laureus awards’ Breakthrough of the Year. He will contest the gong with Formula One champion Nico Rosberg and Leicester City, among others.