Caster, Luvo and Akani in doubt for Athletics World Cup
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa have announced a 40-member squad consisting of 22 men and 18 women for the inaugural Athletics World Cup which is set for London on July 14 and 15.
The team will be spearheaded by Olympic champion Caster Semenya and world long-jump champion Luvo Manyonga among others. The meeting will pit eight of the world’s top athletics nations including the US, Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Poland, China, Germany, France, and Jamaica against each other.
The competition’s format will feature all track and field events up to and including the 1 500m with each nation competing for the $2million prize pot over two evening sessions of athletics.
Limited to one man and one woman per event in an all-straight final format, there will also be 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
Athletics SA chief executive Richard Stander said yesterday the team would be finalised once they have confirmed the availability of each athlete: “The adjusted team will probably be available over the next few days,” Stander said.
Some of SA’s top performers such as Manyonga, Semenya and Akani Simbine may not be available for the World Cup as it clashes with the Rabat Diamond League meeting. Valuable points will be up for grabs for Semenya and Simbine in Rabat scheduled for July 13, which will count towards the Diamond Trophy race. Stander said ASA athletes coordinator was speaking to the athletes to gauge their availability for the team event next month.
“We are speaking to individual athletes like Caster, Luvo, and Akani,” Stander said. “Rabat is the only Diamond League meeting in Africa and it is an important event for us on the continent, where we want the best athletes to compete there.”
It is otherwise possibly the strongest team ASA could have selected with national 100m and 100m hurdles record-holders Carina Horn and Rikenette Steenkamp included in the team.
Stander said the World Cup would also play a significant role in SA’s plan to qualify relay teams for the 2020 Olympics.
“It is important to us that the relay teams race at the World Cup and that all four teams race at the African Championships,” Stander said. “We need them to race twice and get themselves into a position on the world rankings to qualify for next year’s world championships and earn a place in the top-16 nations for the Olympics.”
SA returned from last year’s London World Championships with its best-ever collection of podium finishes at the biennial showpiece to finish third on the medals tables with three gold, one silver, and two bronze.