Van Niekerk all set for SA championships

AFTER pulling out of last year’s event on the day of his race, Wayde van Niekerk will be competing at the South African championships in the 400m this week.

Athletics SA said in a statement yesterday that the 2016 Olympic champion and world record-holder would feature in the one-lap event at the NWU McArthur Stadium in Potchefstroom.

Van Niekerk has been training at his US camp in Florida for a number of months and has been hard at work in his regular SA base in Bloemfontein over the past couple of days.

He will begin his campaign in the 400m heats tomorrow afternoon, with the semi-finals on Friday evening and the final on Saturday afternoon.

Van Niekerk’s main competition is likely to come from world junior champion Lythe Pillay.

“My Goals vs Uncomfortable! Pushing and exposing myself to every limit my body can reach, the goal is to finish strong! Final few days to Potch 2023. Look forward to kicking off my season. Keep going!” the 30-year-old posted along with a series of photos and videos on his Instagram page.

Meanwhile, the fight for the 100m title is set to be a thrilling affair, with defending champion Akani Simbine returning to hold onto the No 1 spot that he clinched in Cape Town last year.

Potchefstroom should dish up better weather conditions than was the case at the Green Point Athletics Stadium last year, so fans will hope to see an even quicker time than Simbine’s 10.31-second winning effort in 2022.

The two-time Olympic finalist will face some serious competition for the gold medal, with 200m SA record-holder Clarence Munyai down to take part in the 100m, while former national champion and record-holder Henricho Bruintjies will also look to make an impression after a couple of difficult, injury-affected, seasons. Youngster Benjamin Richardson will aim to cause an upset too.

In the distance races, Elroy Gelant will take part in the 5 000m and 10 000m, where he will be challenged by Ryan Mphahlele and Maxime Chaumeton in the 12-and-a-half-lap event, with Mphahlele also taking on his favourite 1 500m.

In the men’s field events, the highlight is likely to come in the long jump, where Ruswahl Samaai – who has been training in Atlanta with former champion American Dwight Phillips as his coach – will face off with Zarck Visser and junior sensation Asande Mthembu, while shot put star Kyle Blignaut and established discus thrower Victor Hogan will also be worth a look.

On the women’s front, Carina Horn will be the favourite as she strives to defend her 100m crown, while middle- distance sensation Prudence Sekgodiso will aim to do the double again in the 800m and 1 500m.

Another event to watch will be the 400m hurdles, where the likes of former world junior champion Zeney van der Walt, Taylon Bieldt and Gezelle Magerman will push each other all the way to the line.

Bieldt will try to cause an upset in the 100m hurdles as well, where Marioné Fourie is the defending champion.

The three-day championships will be shown live on SuperSport channel 208.