Mark Ouma OLYMPICS The stringent qualifying criteria to make the South Africa Olympic team has inspired Jannie du Toit to believe he is a serious medal contender. Du Toit has posted impressive performances since last year that have earned him a place among the world’s top freestyle wrestlers in a discipline that has been dominated for decades by athletes from Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakh-stan, Kirgistan, Tajekistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. “Two years ago, our federation reached an agreement with the National Olympic Committee of South Africa (Nocsa) that for a wrestler to make the team to Sydney, the athlete had to fulfil two criteria. “Firstly, the wrestler had to be ranked among the top 10 by Fila (the world controlling body for wrestling) at the end of 1999. Secondly, the athlete had to be ranked best on the African continent,” said David van der Merwe, president of South Africa Wrestling Federation.
Last yea, Du Toit competed at the world championships in Ankara, Turkey. He also competed at two crucial international meetings in Leipzig, Germany, and Tokyo. These Olympic qualifiers enabled the Gauteng-based wrestler to earn seventh place on Fila’s ranking list in the 76kg division last December.
“Du Toit fulfilled the second criterion when he won the gold medal at the the Africa Championships in Tunisia in April this year. We are proud that he has passed the litmus test with flying colours,” said Van der Merwe. “The various international competitions over the past two years have prepared me for what level of competition to expect in Sydney. Although the Olympics is the apex of world sports, l will not be intimidated by the magnitude of the events. “I have competed against many of my opponents at various international events over the past two years. In my weight category it is only the Russian, who is the world champion, that stands out the favourite to win the gold medal. Russia is far ahead of the rest of the world in free wrestling. This will put pressure on the world champion which is good for an underdog like me,” said Du Toit. Kobus Minnaar, who will coach the country’s lone wrestler to his first Olympic outing, has a more sober assessment of the situation. “Besides the Russian other wrestlers from the six former Soviet republics in central Asia will not be pushovers. “Freestyle wrestling is a big sport in those former Soviet republics. Besides them South Korea, Germany and the United States have good wrestlers in this division,” said Minnaar. “At the invitation of the Russian head coach, Yuir Schamaradov, l will accompany Du Toit for a two- week intensive wrestling camp in Moscow in the middle of August, which will be the final tuning up before Sydney,” said Minnaar.