South Africans have a good chance of picking up some track and field gongs in Manchester
Martin Gillingham
Much has been said and written in the past decade about South Africa’s athletes’ failure to come to terms with the demands of global competition. It’s true, the failures at the Olympic Games and world championships have far out-numbered the successes.
But at Manchester in July when South Africa sends its team to the Commonwealth Games admittedly this is the least competitive of the games in the four-year cycle there’s every reason to believe they should get a hatfull of medals. And if you’re sceptical, here are 17 reasons why.
It stands to reason that if defending champion Hestrie Cloete is good enough to beat the rest of the world then she should have no problem in seeing off the best the former colonies can throw at her. Jacques Freitag stands every chance of making it a South African high-jumping double when he competes in his first senior championship. He will have just turned 20 when he gets to the north-west of England and will have to go close to his best of 2,33m if he’s to beat the Canadians Mark Boswell and Kwaku Boateng.
Frantz Kruger found one better than him in Kuala Lumpur four years ago but has since matured into one of the top half-dozen in the world. There should be no Commonwealth discus thrower to touch him. Two other throwers will go to Manchester with a favourite’s chance if they accept their invitations to compete. Janus Robberts (shot) is at university in Texas and it remains to be seen whether he will return, while Chris Harmse’s problem was once shared by world triple jump record holder Jonathan Edwards. Both men are very devout and it was Edwards’s reluctance to compete on Sundays that saw him pass the 1991 world championships. Edwards eventually found a get-out clause in the good book that allowed him to reverse the decision. Sadly, Harmse has yet to find it and unless he does so before July will miss out again because the men’s hammer final is scheduled for a Sunday.
Hezekiel Sepeng is probably the most talented athlete this country has produced since returning from isolation. But he’s also the most frustrating. He should have won the Olympic title in Atlanta in 1996 and still awaits that first big gold. As well as a triumvirate of Kenyans, Sepeng has much to fear in Manchester from the team-mate who finished in front of him in the world championship final, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi.
South Africa go into the men’s 400m hurdles with two likely medallists. Llewellyn Herbert has silver and bronze medals from the world championships and Olympic Games respectively with his only gold at the World Student Games in 1997. Alwyn Myburgh won the same title last year and has outshone Herbert so far in the Absa Series. Both could go inside 48 seconds in Manchester and will fight over the gold with the Englishman Chris Rawlinson.
Shawn Bownes (110m hurdles) was a bronze medallist in Kuala Lumpur and should at least repeat that achievement this time, while Morne Nagel’s fate is a good deal less predictable. The 23-year-old from Pretoria has been the focus of almost unprecedented media hype for someone who has yet to prove himself at a recognised championship distance outdoors. He has beaten a range of top sprinters over 60m on the indoor circuit in Europe but his ability to retain that superiority when the race is extended by another 40m must be questionable.
Nagel’s best chance of a medal may well be in the 4x100m where the South African quartet will line up as world silver medallists. Assuming the 400m men get through the games with four fit bodies they should finish on the podium (4x400m) while Hendrick Mokganyetsi has the best chance in the individual 400m.
Had Hendrik Ramaala opted for the marathon in Manchester he would have been a good thing for a podium finish. But he’s declared a preference for the 10 000m and, though likely to figure, is not expected to pick up a medal.
The 15th and 16th medal prospects are both women. Heide Seyerling (400m) will be keeping her eye on the progress of Cathy Freeman, who made her competitive return in a low-key 100m race in Melbourne two weeks ago. The final will also feature a strong English challenge, with Katharine Merry back from injury.
If we’re looking for a second women’s gold to go with that of Cloete then go no further than Drienkie van Wyk in the shot. She has improved her national record this year to 17,88m and, along with Veronica Abrahamse (17,56m this year), could provide a South African 1-2.