Weather set fair for Potch

With blundering officials and poor weather conditions affecting the first two legs of the national track and field campaign, South Africa’s elite athletes will hope all goes well this evening when the ASA Speed Series makes its third stop in Potchefstroom.

Strong winds hit the opening leg of the series in Durban two weeks ago, and in Bloemfontein last week, a problem with the timing system left a question mark hanging over the results.

After giving both those events a miss, sprinter Akani Simbine, middle-distance kingpin Caster Semenya (above) and javelin star Sunette Viljoen are expected to make their top-flight domestic debuts at McArthur Stadium.

Simbine, who clocked 9.93 (100m) and 19.95 (200m) for a historic double at a provincial league meeting in Pretoria a fortnight back, will focus on the half-lap event tonight.

He might not have it all his own way, however, with junior prospect Clarence Munyai also featuring in the 200m entry lists.

Munyai, who set a national Under-20 record of 20.10 earlier this month, will look to cause an upset.

Semenya, meanwhile, will compete over 3 000m for the first time in nearly two years after being included in the start lists released yesterday.

Other athletes in action include SA 400m hurdles record holder LJ van Zyl, double national sprint champion Alyssa Conley and long jumper Lynique Prinsloo.

With a handful of foreign athletes taking part, there will also be international interest in the men’s 400m race, which features former African champion Isaac Makwala of Botswana.