Caster gets Team SA fans out of their chairs
BRAZZAVILLE: Track athletes Caster Semenya and Antonio Alkana both secured gold medals to push Team South Africa’s medal tally over the hundred mark at the African Games in Brazzaville, Congo on Monday.
Alkana, sprinted and leapt his way to victory in the 110metre hurdles while Semenya blew the 800m field away in the two-lap final.
The track and field section added another three bronze medals to the team tally while there was also a judo bronze from Zack Piontek. The six medals mean Team SA’s total medal count rose to 102.
Semenya had the Team SA fans in the Stade D’Unite out of their chairs as she swept to a 2 minutes 01.00 seconds win.
“I knew I had to go off quite quickly because I was in lane one and I wanted a good look in the beginning,” Semenya said afterwards.
“I was happy to wait for that last 200m because I wasn’t really worried about anyone in particular in this field. I’ve felt good at these Games and not concerned about fast times, it was the medal that counted.
“When I came around the outside of that last bend it was like a sling-shot throwing me to the front,” she grinned.
“My two main goals this year were world champs and these Games – to make it to the final at worlds and to get this medal here. It’s also nice to get a bit of consistency going, with times around the two minute mark.
“Now it’s back to the books and my sports science studies in Potchefstroom,” she added.
Alkana was fastest qualifier into the final and took off like a man possessed as he was never headed in clocking a winning time of 13.32 seconds.
That’s a huge personal best for the Blue Downs athlete and he will wear a smile all the way back to Cape Town.
“I knew I could run exactly this time. I’ve done it time and time again in training,” he said.
The other medals that came SA’s way were Jaco Engelbrecht’s bronze in the shot put as his best heave of 19.55m saw him lying second at one stage to eventual winner, Congo’s Elemba Waka (20.25) but he was overtaken in the final stages.
Then there were bronze medals for Fredriech Pretorius in the decathlon and Julia du Plessis in the high jump. – (ANA)