ATHLETICS STARS ALIGN TO BOOST CITY
Pietermaritzburg took centre stage yesterday at the start of Athletics South Africa’s (ASA) Senior Track and Field Championships at the Msunduzi Athletics Stadium.
Television cameras and national media were out in full force at the prestigious event, with some of South Africa’s top athletes competing in the championships. The three day event is a boon to local tourism and the hospitality sector given the large audience the event has drawn.
Stars including Akani Simbine, Wayde van Niekerk and Clarence Munyai were some of the top athletes on display yesterday.
Capacity crowds are expected over the next few days. The event is also benefitting hawkers who were out in numbers around the stadium precinct selling cold drinks, ice cream, water, snacks, bangles and even sunglasses.
A local hawker from Ezinketheni, Thobile Hlongwane, said that although the heat was factor, trading improved later in the day.
Lihle Mtolo from Caluza said she was not aware that athletics events were so interesting and managed to watch some of the action.
“This experience is just amazing; I mean this event is the SA Champs and I’m here, hey,” she said.
KwaZulu-Natal Athletics media officer and local organising committee member Mandla Mngomezulu told The Witness that the first day kicked off without any problems.
“We kicked off smoothly and expect our next three days to go ahead as planned,” said Mngomezulu.
The director of the Msunduzi Pietermaritzburg Tourism Association Dumisani Mhlongo welcomed the events and its positive impact on tourism and the economy.
Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla said the municipality was delighted to host the athletes and visitors to the city and thanked both KZN Athletics and Athletics South Africa for showing confidence in the city. “When we hosted the SA Junior Championships last year both KZNA and ASA noted the fact that our athletics stadium is a world-class facility and that we have the capacity and capability of hosting major events. We are very happy that they listened to us,” said Thebolla.
South Africa’s top athletes stole the show on the first day of the Athletics South Africa’s Senior Track and Field Championships at Msunduzi Athletics Stadium yesterday.
Household names in track and field events such as Akani Simbine, Bayanda Walaza, Abduragmaan Karriem, Kayla la Grange, Tamzin Thomas and Viwe Jingqi attracted a lot of attention during their events.
Although most of the competitors complained about the heat in Pietermaritzburg on the first day yesterday, some believed that the conditions were a proper test of endurance for the athletes.
The first day took off without any problems and the athletes clocked competitive times.
Crowd-puller and national record holder Simbine easily won the 100m heat.
His classy performance also sent a strong indication that he is one of the favourites to collect the gold medals on the final day.
Simbine, a five-time national champion, was at his best on the first day.
Competing in his first 100m race of the year, Simbine comfortably clocked 10,07 seconds.
The sprinter said yesterday’s race was his most technical, but he also eyed the best time and obviously the first position.
“Today was not really about strongly competing, but was about getting the technical side of the heat right first in order to achieve positive results.
“We all expect the competition and challenges to be tougher later in the competition. The heat ... the weather was a bit of a concern to all of us, but this is another chance of competing in the tough conditions,” said Simbine.
The hard-working Abduragmaan Karriem followed and was the next best man after Simbine — winning his heat in 10,26 sec. Teenager Bayanda Walaza was third fastest (10,36 sec).
In the women’s 100m heats, Tamzin Thomas was quickest — clocking 11,47 sec.
Junior star Viwe Jingqi was second fastest, winning her heat in 11,60 sec; and Kayla la Grange was third quickest in 11,63 sec, taking the runner-up spot in her heat behind Thomas.
The women’s 100m semi-finals and the men’s semi-finals were scheduled for later yesterday.
The finals of the short dash will be contested today.