MONDAY, 8.30AM:
THE South Africans threw away good chances of three medals in Athens at the weekend, when highly fancied local athletes fizzled out one by one.
In the mens’ marathon, the best effort by the five experienced South African runners was by Xolile Yawa, who came in at 12th place.
Pole valuter Rian Botha, ranked fourth in the world, failed at the very first height of 5,7m, well short of what he is capable of.
And highjumper Hestrie Storbeck, who did consistently well through all the qualifying rounds, suddenly failed in three attempts at 1,93m, a centimetre short of her personal best of 1,94cm.