Tazmin Brits, number one on the javelin world list and South Africa’s best candidate for a gold medal, qualified in style for Sunday’s final when the IAAF World Youth Athletics Championships continued in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Saturday.
She needed only one excellent throw of 55,9m to advance. It was about 4m better than that of the second-best athlete.
Bloemfontein athlete Leanke Steyn (46,43m) also did well enough to compete in the final.
Willem Voigt (17), a product of South Western Districts, was one of the sensations of the high-jump competition. He finished in sixth position after clearing heights of 2m, 2,04m and 2,08m (equalling his personal best). He then also succeeded with the bar at 2,11m and 2,14m.
Sprinter Alyssa Conley, another star of the South African team, continued her outstanding form when she also qualified for the 200m final after clocking a personal best time of 23,85 seconds. Two days ago, she also featured in the 100m final where she finished sixth.
Disappointment awaited semifinalists Patrick Vosloo (21,72 seconds) and Dean Swart (21,85) who both failed to qualify for the 200m final.
The 400m hurdles kept South Africa’s medal hopes alive when both aspirants for top honours qualified for the final, but to book a place on the rostrum will take more than just another run.
Two Americans, William Wynne (50,28 seconds) and Reginald Wyatt (50,48), dominated the semifinals with excellent victories. PC Beneke, the South African champion, was fourth in his race in 51,94 while Cornel Fredericks, who headed the world youth list in 2006, finished third in his race in 51,82.
South Africa and the United States are the only countries with two athletes in Sunday’s final, the last day of the meeting.
The two South African runners in the 3 000m also failed to make any inroads in the final. Folavio Sehohle (eighth) and Sityhilo Diko (14th) could not match the speedy Kenyans, Moroccans and Ethiopians. Their respective times were 8:29,72 and 8:42,79.
The South African boys’ 1 000m relay team qualified for the final after taking second place behind Saudi Arabia in a time of 1:53,91 sec. The South African women’s team failed to do likewise when finishing sixth in a time of 2:17,34.
Celeste Rietels, with a best jump of 5,8m, also did not proceed to the final of the long jump, and Jayson Smith ended in ninth place of the discus final with a best of 52,23m.
Earlier, Dewald Bekker finished 27th in the 10 000m walk in 38:25,74, while hurdlers Marli Spies (14,06 seconds) and Ansulet Potgieter (14,31) failed to advance to the semifinals of the 100m hurdles. In the triple jump, Boipelo Motlathlego had three no-jumps in the final. — Sapa