/ 27 August 2004

Night of high pressure for SA athletes

Alwyn Myburgh struck seventh place as world high-jump champion Hestrie Cloete celebrated her 26th birthday with 800m runners Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Hezekiel Sepeng as they won their way into Olympic finals on a night of high passion at the Olympic Stadium in Athens on Thursday night.

”That was fantastic,” smiled an ecstatic Myburgh after his seventh spot in the 400m hurdles final in 49,07 seconds against the 47,63 seconds that won Felix Sanchez the gold medal.

Myburgh was the pick of the South African 400m hurdles crop and, although he would have liked to beat his personal-best 48,09 seconds that would have won him the silver, he was a well-satisfied young man for making the final after his 13th position in Sydney 2000.

”It was a great experience. The first goal was to make the finals. I put a lot of pressure on myself to run a good time. I’ll take this experience and use it in future. This is the first big final of my life.

”I took experience from Sydney and used it, but I found I had to work hard around the corner that sapped my energy. But you know what? I’ve raced in the final of one of the toughest events in athletics.”

An intense Cloete relaxed visibly after the South African media wished her a happy birthday in the mixed zone.

”I wish the final was tonight,” smiled the gold-medal favourite who won the silver medal in Sydney and followed with two world-championship gold medals. ”Then I could really go out and celebrate my birthday.”

On Thursday night, before a capacity 70 000-strong crowd, she enjoyed a faultless round of qualifying jumps that started at 1,80m and finished off at 1,95m.

”There is another day to go and I’ll be spending the rest of my time until Saturday relaxing and visualising. I’ve reached one goal, now I’ve got to go for the other.

”There’s pressure out there for sure. There’ll be 12 of us fighting for the gold on Saturday. All I want is the people back home to know is that I never give 50%. I always give 110%. So, no matter what happens in the final, they must know I’ve done my best.

”Technically I feel great and my legs feel really good.”

Mulaudzi’s right leg was spiked, but he wasn’t hassled after his second-placed 1:46,09 behind Djabir Said Guerni (Algeria), who ran 1:45,76 in the first of three 800m semifinals.

Sepeng complained about sore hamstrings after squeezing into the final on fastest-loser’s time when he finished fourth in a mercurial 1:44,75. Kenya’s Wilfred Bungei showed why he’s the favourite with his winning time of 1:44,28.

Mulaudzi said his semifinal was one of the toughest of his life after he had to fight his way out of a box.

”I was spiked on my calf, but it’s not serious. It will be okay by Saturday’s final,” said a calm and collected Mulaudzi.

”It was a very hard last round, but I prefer a faster race. I have my speed back now for the finish.

”I’m not struggling any more after my bad race in Zurich [three weeks ago]. Now I must continue to work on my head for the final. I feel positive.”

Mulaudzi and Sepeng waited on the track for the final semifinal won by Denmark’s Wilson Kipketer in 1:44,63 — a time that rang alarm bells for Bungei after he stretched the field enough for the third and fourth places to post slower times than Sepeng’s.

”We are really good buddies,” said Sepeng. ”We share a room and I told him that he must get his mind right, that Zurich is behind him. Now look what he’s done. He put the pressure on me once he’d got through. In any South African team, he’s my man. He did it on only two weeks training after injuries and sickness.”

”As for me, I went out too fast too soon. At 150m, it meant I ran out of steam at the finish. But what’s great is that I’ve made my third Olympic final,” added Sepeng, who won Olympic silver in Atlanta in 1996.

”Now we will listen to music and relax until Saturday. The final can be anybody’s race. Let’s just wait and see what happens.”

Hardus Pienaar missed out on the javelin final after he threw 79,95m, missing out on the 81m qualifier.

”I had to change my run up because it wasn’t working out in my warm-up,” said the big gentle man from Potchefstroom. ”I had to shorten it for the first round. But it was a fantastic experience.” — Sapa