KwaZulu-Natal swimming star Terence Parkin kept going on his world-record-breaking streak, while Gauteng marathon man Isaac Mahlake put his best foot forward to take bronze as Team South Africa kept pulling in the medals at the Deaflympics in Melbourne, Australia, on Friday.
Parkin took his Deaflympics medal tally to 13 medals, as he added a deaf world-record-breaking 1 500m freestyle effort of six minutes and 20,60 seconds, a win in the 100m breaststroke (1:04,87), and a silver medal as part of Team SA’s 400m freestyle unit, where he joined forces with the Gauteng-based Lessing brothers, Greg and Nick, and North West’s Ivan du Toit (3:40,95).
Ireland took the gold medal in 3:40,60.
Greg Lessing collected his third individual-event silver medal in finishing the 100m backstroke final in 1:00,44, just pipped by the 1:00,22 clocked by arch-rival John Kealy of Ireland.
Out on the streets of Melbourne, Mahlake produced a gutsy marathon run to post Team SA’s first athletics medal of the event, crossing the finish line in 2:38,24, to leave the rainbow nation’s medal tally on a total of 19 (13 gold, five silver and one bronze) at the end of the ninth day of the Deaflympics, which reaches a climax on Sunday.
Team SA chef de mission Tony Heyns praised the efforts of the national team, whose skill and courage against international competition has allowed Team SA’s medal tally to surpass the total of 13 medals (eight gold, two silver and three bronze) achieved by the national side at the previous Deaflympics in Rome, Italy, four years ago. — Sapa