By Johnathan Paoli
South Africa added another medal to its World Athletics U20 Championships haul in Eugene, Oregon, on Friday morning SA time as Marko Ferreira claimed bronze in the men’s 100m final, building on Jaco van Dyk’s shot put bronze from the opening day.
Ferreira, who had won his semifinal in 10.13 seconds on Wednesday, crossed the line in 10.16 to finish third behind American Tate Taylor and Jamaica’s Gary Card.
ALSO READ: Malatsi puts rural digital inclusion at centre of Eksteenskuil Computer Centre launch
Taylor produced one of the performances of the championships so far, winning gold in 9.94 seconds, with Card taking silver in 10.05. Ferreira’s podium finish gave South Africa another reason to celebrate after Van Dyk opened the country’s medal account a day earlier.
The championships, which run from 5 to 9 August at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon, have already delivered several impressive performances from South Africa’s 51-member team.
For Van Dyk, Wednesday marked the biggest achievement of his young career.
The 16-year-old booked his place in the men’s shot put final after throwing 19.09 metres during the qualifying round before producing an even better performance under the lights.
Van Dyk launched the shot 19.80m to set a new personal best and secure bronze.
Brazil’s Alessandro Borges won gold with a throw of 20.35m, while South Korea’s Si-hoon Park claimed silver after reaching 20.31m.
Speaking after the competition, Van Dyk said the medal represented months of sacrifice finally paying off.
“It was an amazing feeling fighting back in getting the right distance, all the hard work paying off from January trying to qualify was insane,” he said.
The young thrower also offered simple advice to aspiring athletes.
“Just give your best, anything can happen. You can come first, you can come last, but always give your best,” he said.
ALSO READ: CETA partners with V&A Waterfront in ambitious new skills project
South Africa also produced one of the performances of the opening day in the mixed 4x400m relay, where the team twice lowered the national under-20 record within hours.
Ryno Riekert, Zanté van der Merwe, Abelines Schoeman and Isabella Gunter stopped the clock in 3:22.12 during the morning heats, breaking the existing South African junior record and comfortably qualifying for the evening final.
Team management made one change for the medal race, bringing Davida Strong into the line-up in place of Van der Merwe.
The revised quartet of Riekert, Strong, Schoeman and Gunter went even quicker, clocking 3:21.48 to finish sixth and lower the South African U20 record for a second time on the same day.
Riekert said he was happy with the performance, although the demanding conditions made the race physically taxing.
“Ran the first leg, it’s hot and my hammies [hamstrings] are burning, but it felt very good,” he said.
Schoeman said he was impressed by the atmosphere at Hayward Field.
“It was an incredible experience for me, the people are very nice, the track is actually incredible and it was a very nice experience,” he said.
Gunter echoed those sentiments.
“It was an incredible experience, something I have never felt before,” she said.
The United States won the mixed relay in 3:15.31, the fastest U20 performance in history.
South Africa’s field-event athletes also laid down markers on the opening day.
Jan-Hendrik Heymans produced the best throw of the men’s javelin qualifying competition, launching the spear 76.02m to finish more than six metres ahead of the next-best qualifier.
Compatriot Marques Olivier also progressed comfortably after throwing 68.77m to qualify sixth overall, putting both South Africans into Friday night’s final.
Long jumper Ashlynn Norman also advanced from qualifying with a jump of 6.11m. Norman had entered the championships having jumped a season best of 6.46m in Johannesburg in April.
Ferreira had initially emerged as South Africa’s strongest sprint prospect after winning his 100m semifinal in 10.13.
Mukona Manavhela came agonisingly close to joining him in the final, finishing fourth in his semifinal in 10.38 and missing qualification by one hundredth of a second.
Rume Burger narrowly missed out on the women’s 100m final after placing fourth in her semifinal in 11.53, six hundredths outside the qualifying positions.
South Africa’s middle-distance athletes also enjoyed a productive opening day.
Werner Gouws advanced to the men’s 800m semifinals after finishing third in his heat in 1:47.54, while Emile Els also progressed after placing third in his race in 1:51.11.
Carise van Rooyen joined them by taking third in her women’s 800m heat in 2:06.52 to secure a semifinal place.
ALSO READ: Former NSFAS board member accused of stealing 10 laptops meant for Eastern Cape schools
Distance runner Njabulo Hlatshwayo finished 15th in the men’s 5,000m final in 14:13.90 in his first global championship appearance.
Attention now turns to Friday’s third day of competition, where South Africa has another packed programme and several realistic opportunities to progress deep into the championships.
Heymans and Olivier will be among the country’s headline performers when they contest the men’s javelin final after their strong qualifying performances.
Gouws and Els return for the men’s 800m semifinals, while Van Rooyen contests the women’s 800m semifinals.
Several South Africans will also begin their individual campaigns on Friday.
Marine Grobler and Stephane Hook are entered in the women’s javelin qualification, while Daniel von der Heyden begins the decathlon.
Tumi Ramokgopa and Megan Nieman are entered in the women’s 100m hurdles, Michaela Spocter in the women’s high jump and Jayden Parkin in the men’s 110m hurdles.
Burger and Sarah Reed are entered in the women’s 200m, while Manavhela returns in the men’s 200m after narrowly missing the 100m final.
Tshiamo Motsamai and Levi Fick are due to compete in men’s long jump qualification. The Friday evening session also includes the 800m semifinals and the men’s javelin final.
Another athlete attracting attention in the South African squad is 400m hurdler Matodzi Ndou, who arrived in Eugene after setting a South African U20 record of 48.64 seconds earlier this season.
The performance broke the previous national junior mark of 48.73 held by Sokwakhana Zazini, one of South Africa’s most accomplished junior hurdlers.
Zazini went on to win the men’s 400m hurdles gold medal at the 2018 World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, clocking 49.42 in the final. Qatar’s Bassem Hemeida won silver in 49.59, while Brazil’s future Olympic and world medallist Alison dos Santos took bronze in 49.78.
South Africa has a strong history in the 400m hurdles, producing athletes including LJ van Zyl, Llewellyn Herbert, Ockert Cilliers, Alwyn Myburgh and Cornel Fredericks at senior international level.
ALSO READ: Eastern Cape education faces R1.7bn school infrastructure shortfall
The encouraging start in Oregon has come after the team’s build-up was overshadowed by a public funding dispute between Athletics South Africa and Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie.
ASA maintained before the championships that it had not received its annual government grant by the expected end-of-June deadline, forcing the federation to seek alternative funding and resulting in some athletes’ families contributing towards travel costs.
Acting ASA president John Mathane said the federation had received no departmental funding and had relied on private donors, while ASA covered accommodation costs.
McKenzie disputed the suggestion that his department had jeopardised the team’s participation, saying he had personally approached private companies and secured R4 million after learning there was insufficient funding available to send the team to the United States.
