Even without Wayde, local scene looks healthy
With Wayde van Niekerk returning to training this week after a 10-month injury lay-off, the confirmation of his imminent comeback has carried with it the realisation that his absence was not as noticeable as may have been expected.
That’s not to suggest his return will be anything other than good news for local athletics fans.
However, rather than his hiatus leaving a gaping hole in a sport which has been on the rise in recent years, the nation’s depth ensured there was more than enough to maintain public interest in athletics while he was gone.
Caster Semenya has been typically superb this season, stretching her unbeaten run to three years over the 800m distance.
Her 2018 campaign has included double gold at the Commonwealth Games (800m/1 500m) and African Championships (400m/800m), and a third successive Diamond League title with another gun-to-tape victory in Zurich this week.
Though she does not hold an official world record (she does hold the 600m world best), Semenya’s consistency and versatility have made her as popular in her home country as Van Niekerk, and she has stolen the show this season.
Similarly, long jumpers Luvo Manyonga and Ruswahl Samaai have cemented their places among the best in the world in their specialist discipline.
While rising Cuban star Juan
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Miguel Echevarria produced the best leap on the global circuit this season, the friendly rivalry between Commonwealth champion Manyonga and African champion Samaai has delivered its fair share of excitement, with the duo battling for supremacy.
With close friend Van Niekerk sidelined from the track during a lengthy rehabilitation process, Akani Simbine has picked up the mantle as the nation’s sprint king, and he too has done well to seal the hole left by the Olympic and world 400m champion.
Simbine has not bettered his own SA record of 9.89 seconds this year but, his campaign has included victories in the flagship 100m dash at the Commonwealth Games and African Championships, and he has firmly established his place among the quickest men on the international circuit.
Meanwhile, the likes of sprint sensation Clarence Munyai, the SA men’s 4x100m relay team, a host of national record-breakers, and a seemingly endless stream of youth and junior stars, have all contributed to the rising standard in South African track and field.
Indeed, Van Niekerk was missed this year. Having already proved himself as one of the country’s alltime track and field greats, if he can fully recover from a serious knee injury and get back to his best, his presence on the track will be a welcome boost for domestic athletics and international sprinting.
His return to competition early next year, however, will hardly signal an explosive resurrection of the sport at domestic level. No such injection will be required.
Local athletics has managed an entire season without its best known protagonist, and it has hardly taken a knock.
That’s a clear sign of the depth of track and field talent that is being unearthed in SA, and another indication of the bright future that lies ahead for the sport.