Llewellyn Herbert will be looking to post an Olympic A standard qualifying performance, pocket some Absa incentive and get the better of high-riding hurdlers Okkert Cilliers and Alwyn Myburgh in the third Absa Series meeting of the season at the Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria on Friday night.
The meeting starts at 6pm.
Herbert, who will need to complete the 400m hurdles race in 49,20 seconds or faster in order to join Cilliers and Myburgh on the national selectors shortlist for Olympic duty, will be eyeing the R5 000 Absa incentive fee up for grabs for athletes who qualify — International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) A standard — for Athens during the Absa Series.
At last Friday’s Absa Series meeting held in Potchefstroom, Absa was forced to dig deep into its pockets with Cilliers (48,47 seconds) and Myburgh (48,84 seconds), as well as hammer thrower Chris Harmse (79,86m) each having their respective names placed on a R5 000 Absa incentive cheque for posting Olympic A standard qualifying performances.
The traditional carnival atmosphere at the Pilditch Stadium is set to bring out the best of South Africa’s track and field stars at Friday’s Absa Series meeting, with Bloemfontein discus strongman Frantz Kruger set to have his first Absa Series outing of the season, while Hardus Pienaar will be looking to build on his impressive win in Potchefstroom last week.
All-Africa pole vault record-holder and IAAF 2003 world championships silver medallist Okkert Brits will be out to clear the 5,65m Olympic A standard qualifying height, while South African junior long-jump record-holder Khotso Mokoena will be part of the triple jump action.
World high-jump champion and IAAF 2003 World Athlete of the Year Hestrie Cloete, fresh from her opening Absa Series triumph of 1,90m in Potchefstroom, is another athlete that fans are expected to flock to watch at the Pilditch Stadium, with her presence set to provide an electrifying atmosphere on the women’s field events scene.
The 400m showdown between Heide Seyerling and Estie Wittstock will attract much attention after the blonde Port Elizabeth athlete pipped Wittstock on the line over 200m in the Absa Series meeting in Potchefstroom.
Sydney Olympic 400m finalist Seyerling, a former world junior 200m champion, will be keen to prove that she is still South Africa’s undisputed 400m queen, but Wittstock’s improvement over the past 12 months has not gone unnoticed, and the race could well go down to the final few metres before the honours are decided.
Janus Robberts, who has been studying in the United States for the past four years, has returned home to South Africa and will compete in the shot put on Friday night.
His duel with Burger Lambrechts in the shot put will be one of the highlights of the meeting on Friday night.
Robberts will use the Absa meeting on Friday night as his final preparation for the IAAF World Indoor Championships, in Budapest, Hungary, from March 5 to 7 this year. — Sapa