Janus Robberts, the African and Commonwealth record holder, continued his very good form at the 18th annual Citta di Padova international athletics meeting in Padua, Italy, on Sunday with a superb winning distance of 20,93m in the shot put.
Leigh Julius, the young Port Elizabeth sprinter, was the second South African athlete to record a victory at the meeting by winning the 200m in 20,84 seconds after he had earlier been disqualified in the 100m.
Robberts, who had recorded distances of more than 21m in two recent meetings, will now be returning to South Africa to prepare for the African Championships in Brazzaville.
He is currently occupying fifth place on the 2004 world list behind four American athletes. Johan Cronje, the South African 1 500m champion, finished fourth in the 1 500m with a time of three minutes and 39 seconds. — Sapa