South Africa’s long-jump record holder and champion, Godfrey Mokoena, got the ball rolling in the international athletics season with another win on the 2007 World Athletics tour circuit.
Following his win in Dakar with a leap of 8,32m a week ago, Mokoena repeated the feat last Saturday in Osaka, Japan, in what is arguably a dress rehearsal for the World Championships there later this year.
The 22-year-old was too good for the field assembled in Japan, winning by 28cm ahead of Australia’s Tim Parravicini, with a jump of 8,18m.
Mokoena now lies second on the World Athletics Tour Grand Prix standings with 20 points after two competitions. The top eight athletes in the world per event qualify for the World Athletics final in Stuttgart in September, and Mokoena is well on his way to booking his place in the prestigious and lucrative final.
Estie Wittstock ran a season’s best of 52,53 seconds to win the 400m at the CAA permit meeting in Gaborone, Botswana, ahead of Rachel Nachula from Zambia.
Earlier the two had reversed roles in the 200m, with the Zambian coming up trumps.
Wittstock said: ”I was just so heavy and sluggish in the 200m, but it was good to get rid of all the cobwebs and I ran my best time in the 400m since last May in Osaka (51,05), so I’m really pleased,” Wittstock concluded.
Kagiso Kumbane will have got the selectors’ attention with a 100m/200m double victory. The junior ran 10,43sec to win the 100m and a personal best 20,75 in the IAAF B-qualifier for victory in the 200m.
That makes him the fourth fastest South African over the 200m this year and could well make him eligible for the 4x100m relay at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, in August.
Tshamano Setone may have won the 5000m in 14:14, but was bitterly disappointed with his time.
Setone has a best of 13:49,54, which he ran in Port Elizabeth in 2006 to win the national championship and qualify for the Commonwealth Games.
Leigh Julius got his international season off to a good start with a 20,79sec third placing in the gold meeting Sesi Caixa in Uberlandia, Brazil. Julius finished behind Brazil’s Vicente de Lima (20,60sec) and Brian Barnett of Canada (20,64sec).
Geraldine Pillay finished seventh in the 200m in the Jamaica International on Saturday with a time of 24,27sec. The race was won by Rachelle Boone Smith (22,65sec) of the Untied States.
Pillay is still adapting to the new training regime of coach Steven Francis, who also has world-record holder Asafa Powell in his stable. It will take another year of this kind of training before the results start to show. — Sapa