LOOKING EVEN BETTER FOR YEAR AHEAD
Sporting prospects looking ever better for year ahead
IF SUCCESS breeds success‚ then South Africa should again shoot the lights out this year to follow up on the 10 medals won at the Rio Olympics. In Brazil, Team SA picked up four medals in track and field‚ three in swimming and one apiece in rowing‚ triathlon and rugby sevens to secure the country’s best Games haul since 1920.
Those sporting codes should keep shining in the next several months‚ at least until the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast‚ Australia‚ in April next year. And, hopefully, beyond. Athletics‚ swimming and rowing will all stage world championships this year‚ while triathlon and Sevens will each be decided by a seasonlong series.
Track and field
Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya will look to spearhead South Africa to its most successful world championships ever in London in August.
The best performance to date has been the four medals at the 2003 showpiece in Paris‚ where high-jumpers Hestrie Cloete and Jacques Freitag won gold.
Okkert Brits took the pole vault silver and Mbulaeni Mulaudzi finished third in the men’s 800m.
Van Niekerk‚ Semenya and the country’s other two medallists‚ long-jumper Luvo Manyonga and javelin-thrower Sunette Viljoen‚ should all be podium contenders.
Add Anaso Jobodwana‚ the 2015 world championship 200m bronze medallist who will hopefully be fully fit by then‚ as well as 100m sprint star Akani Simbine‚ and South Africa could be looking at north of five medals.
The men’s 4x100m relay team should be up and running by then‚ and an injury-free Ruswahl Samaai could perform in the men’s long jump.
Swimming
In the pool‚ the best world championship performance has been five medals‚ achieved in 2013 courtesy of Chad Le Clos‚ Cameron van der Burgh and Giulio Zorzi.
But the three gold medals they won then – Le Clos bagged the double in the 100m and 200m butterfly while Van der Burgh claimed the 50m breaststroke crown – dropped to two at the last championships in 2015.
Then Le Clos kept his 100m title and Chad Ho won the 5km open-water swim.
With no swimming golds in Rio‚ Le Clos and Van der Burgh cannot be considered top seeds for Budapest in July.
Of course‚ much might depend on which of their rivals choose to compete there.
Rowing
Lawrence Brittain and Shaun Keeling won SA’s only Olympic rowing medal in Rio‚ silver in the men’s pairs.
But of the other four crews who competed there‚ two ended fourth and two finished fifth.
There are likely to be some personnel changes‚ but expect fireworks from the pairs boat and the lightweight women’s double sculls‚ where Kirsty McCann and Ursula Grobler face a battle royale from youngster Nicole van Wyk to keep their seats in the boat.
SA rowing’s best world championship result was a gold and a bronze in 2014‚ a feat that could come under threat in the build-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Triathlon
This minnow sport will surely get more air time in South Africa in the next few years.
Henri Schoeman won bronze at the Rio Olympics and Richard Murray ended fourth.
With Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee of Britain possibly retiring‚ an extra podium spot could open up to see South Africa regularly getting two medallists during the upcoming World Triathlon Series.
Rugby sevens
It is early days‚ but already the Olympic bronze medallists are leading the standings after two tournaments‚ just two points ahead of England.
Hostilities recommence in Wellington‚ New Zealand‚ soon.