While Team South Africa’s athletics squad only claimed two medals at the Paris Olympics, there was a lot to cheer about for Mzansi.
Three new national records were set, and SA qualified for six finals and competed in 12 medal rounds...
What went right
The undoubted highlight for South Africa’s athletics team at the Stade de France was the night Akani Simbine could finally end his Olympic medal curse.
Having gone so close in the 100m final, the SA sprinter again had to deal with the unfortunate outcome of ending in fourth place, despite setting a new national mark of 9.82 seconds.
In the fastest ever Olympic 100m final on August 4 – with eighth- and last-placed Jamaican Oblique Seville clocking 9.91 – Simbine trailed behind champion Noah Lyles (9.79), silver medallist Kishane Thompson (9.79) and Fred Kerley (9.81).
But Simbine was able to shrug off yet another major disappointment by anchoring the 4x100m relay team to an historic silver medal on August 9.
Having negotiated the first round a day earlier to finish second to the United States (37.47) in a time of 37.94, the South African quartet of Bayanda Walaza, Shaun Maswanganyi, Bradley Nkoana and Simbine were definite underdogs behind USA, Italy, Canada, Great Britain and Italy.
But the two teenagers, Walaza and Nkoana, produced the races of their lives to do enough alongside US-based Maswanganyi to set up Simbine’s opportunity for a podium finish.
At the start of the final leg, Japan, Italy and Canada made up the top three, with Simbine and France and GB virtually level pegging – with the favourite Americans down the field, having messed up their first baton exchange between Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek.
Simbine roared down the final straight, closely pursued by British star Zharnel Hughes. Canadian veteran Andre de Grasse held on to clinch the gold medal in 37.50, with Simbine second in a new African record of 37.57, followed by GB in 37.61.
It was a well-deserved achievement for Simbine, who ran across to his teammates to celebrate immediately.
“For me, it’s just finally I got a major championship medal, and I’m just hungry for more,” the 30-year-old said afterwards.
“My career has not been about the medals. It’s just been about a lot of consistency. I have shown that I will always be there. I have shown that I will be an athlete who will step up to the plate – and I’ll fight.
“My name will always be there, and the medal is just the cherry on top. I have proven myself to the game, I have proven myself to my competitors, and that for me is enough.
“I am inspiring a new generation in Africa – that’s really huge. I don’t take that very lightly, and that’s really great.
“Now I just have a medal to add to that, but that doesn’t describe me. I’m a sprinter, I’m an athlete. But this medal is just for everyone that has wished a medal upon me. My medal belongs to everyone.”
The silver medal was also a triumph for SA relays coach Paul Gorries, who pushed for greater investment in the event for years, and finally got some real buy-in from Athletics SA and the athletes.
They held a few camps over the years, and the former 400m sprinter could bask in the glory of a magnificent night on a wet Stade de France track – having also had to deal with the adversity of the injury to Benjamin Richardson, who would’ve been part of the final quartet.
“You know how long I have been doing this, and I’ve always seen the potential of the 4x100m, and the 4x400m – I think we have more potential now in the 4x400m than what we had in the past, and that’s something to build on as well,” Gorries told Independent Media.
“But I would say it was a relief, more for me … Now people can actually see what was my vision and thinking behind this the whole time.”
The men’s 4x400 relay team also achieved great success, earning a spot in the final without one-lap record-holder Wayde van Niekerk.
They were hoping to clinch a medal too, but the quartet of Gardeo Isaacs, Zakithi Nene, Lythe Pillay and Antonie Nortjé ended fifth – although they set a new SA record of 2:58.12.
The other major highlight for Team SA was Jo-Ané van Dyk’s incredible silver medal in the women’s javelin throw.
The South African star would have been eyeing the 64.22m distance that she threw in the qualification round in Paris to reach the final, and she came up with a strong 63.93m in round three to shift into a silver-medal position.
The North West University athlete emulated Sunette Viljoen-Louw, who also finished second in the javelin event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
It was a remarkable performance from Van Dyk, who had little support from Athletics SA in the build-up to Paris.
“It means a lot for throwers and field events in South Africa, also for women in the country,” Van Dyk said.
“For me to be wearing this medal and being on the podium is amazing to follow in her Viljoen-Louw) footsteps, and I hope I will be laying more footsteps for the younger generation to follow as well.”
Other memorable results for Team SA in track and field include Adriaan Wildschutt’s outstanding national record to finish 10th in the 10 000m final in a time of 26:50.64.
Prudence Sekgodiso progressed smoothly into the women’s 800m final, and while she would’ve hoped to reach the podium, it was not to be as she ended eighth in 1:58.79.
In the marathon, Elroy Gelant came up with a terrific display to end 11th in 2:09.07, while youngster Brian Raats reached the high jump final, where he finished 12th with a 2.17m effort.
What went wrong
The curious case of Wayde van Niekerk was one of the unfortunate situations in Paris. First he was going to run in the 400m only, then the 4x400m relay – but he ended up only competing in the 200m.
Van Niekerk managed to get into the semi-finals, where he finished seventh in 20.72.
Fellow 200m runner Benjamin Richardson picked up a hamstring injury in his 200m heat, which ended his hopes of reaching the final and helping the 4x100m relay team.
That came on the back of an excellent 100m solo campaign, where he ran a superb 9.95 time in the semi-finals to finish third – but still missed out on the final.
In the women’s marathon, Gerda Steyn would’ve been keen to improve on his 15th place from the Tokyo Olympics, but on a difficult day, she ended 45th in 2:32.51.
Shot put star Kyle Blignaut was sixth in the Tokyo final, but this time, he missed out in the qualifying round, where he finished seventh with 20.78m. | Independent Media Sport