Estie Wittstock’s debut in the Olympics ended on Sunday when she finished sixth in the second women’s 400m semifinal in a time of 51,77 seconds.
With a lane-two draw inside Russian heat winner Natalya Nazarova and Tonique Williams-Darling, pace judgement was always going to be difficult. Williams-Darling won in 49,15 seconds, with Nazarova third in 49,65.
The 23-year-old South African improved on her qualifying time from Saturday with a well-judged race, taking the scalps of the more experienced Donna Fraser and Poland’s Grazyna Prokopek.
Wittstock was ranked 18th out of the 24 semifinalists and this experience should stand her in good stead for the upcoming World Championships.
”I’ve had so much fun, I enjoyed it,” said Wittstock. ”One of my focuses was just to have fun. I trained for this, I said this is my moment, just enjoy. The team atmosphere has been fantastic, even yesterday at our heats there were a whole lot of people there. South African flags, it really gives you this warm feeling to perform.”
Meanwhile, Johan Cronje failed to make it through to the men’s 1 500m semifinals, despite a valiant effort. The initial slow start looked to play into Cronje’s hands, with the field going through the 400m in 64,04 seconds and Cronje comfortably in eighth position.
The field then geared up the pace and Cronje moved into second after 600m. At 850m, Morocco’s world-record holder, Hicham El Guerrouj, stepped on the gas to split the field and hit the line in 3:40,87. Cronje was unable to stay with the 39,53-second pace of the final 300m, but ran well to finish 11th in a time of 3:44,40.
”It felt a bit slow so I went up front and I think the guys saw me up front, and saw that everyone was still in the race, so [they] felt they had to pick up pace,” said Cronje. ”I think it all went wrong with the last 500m to go. I just couldn’t keep up with the pace after the slow lap in the beginning.”
In sailing, Gareth Blanckenberg has been quietly handling two races a day for the past week in the Laser class competition. After Sunday’s 11th race, he opted to discard the third race where he scored 31 points, which brought his 10-race total to 156 points and placed him 17th overall.
On Monday morning, the men’s hockey team face New Zealand in their final pool match. The South Africans have lost three of their four matches and although only pride is at stake, a win would place them mid-table in their six-team pool.
Nicolene Cronje makes her Olympic debut in Monday’s 20km walk, which will provide her with invaluable experience for the build-up to Beijing 2008.
Sydney Olympic bronze medallist Herbert Llewellyn, Alwyn Myburgh and Ockert Cilliers will line up for the 400m hurdles heats in the Olympic Stadium on Monday night. Progression to the semis should be a formality for all three, and they carry one of South Africa’s main medal hopes in this event.
Also on Monday, Sydney bronze medallist Frantz Kruger and Hannes Hopley will both compete in the discus final. Medal hope Kruger has thrown more than 70m and is striking form at the right time.
In comparison, the 23 year-old Hopley is gaining significant experience and has shown that he is not overawed by the competition. He finished third in his qualification group, but it is unlikely that he will achieve more than a final place without launching the discus out further than his personal best of 67,66m. — Sapa
Special Report: Olympics 2004