Willem

Coertzen
African Senior Athletics Champs, Marrakech, Morocco Team SAs medal prospects
Racewalk
The full squad:
(both 20km walk)
Sprints
Akani Simbine
Age: 20
Events: 100m, 200m
Season best: 10.02 (100m)
20.37 (200m)
Many positives came out of
Simbines maiden
appearance at the
Commonwealth Games in
Glasgow, Scotland. He
missed a berth in the 100m
nal by a three hundredths
of a second after he
advanced comfortably in
the heats. He clocked a
personal best 20.37 in the
200m nal prior to
anchoring the 4x100m
relay team to a new SA
record of 38.35 last
Saturday.
The full squad:
Simon Magakwe (100m),
Henricho Bruintjies (100m),
Wayde van Niekerk (200m,
400m), Ncinci Titi (200m),
Melissa Hewitt (100m,
200m), Justine Palframan
(200m, 400m)
Middle/long distance
Andr Olivier
Age: 28
Event: 800m
Season best: 1:44.42
Olivier has shown good
progress since he defended
his national title at the SA
Championships in April. He
has peaked up well thanks
largely to his top-three
nish in the six international
meetings he ran across the
Diamond League and the
IAAF World Challenge,
which culminated in a
bronze medal at the
Commonwealth Games.
Olivier, who won bronze at
the Benin African
Championships in 2012, has
clocked three sub-1:45
times this year.
The full squad:
Johan Cronje (1 500m),
Elroy Gelant (5 000m)
Hurdles
Cornel Fredericks
Age: 24
Event: 400m hurdles
Season best: 48.42
Fredericks gold in Glasgow
last week capped a steady
progress on the bigger stage.
Along with his training
partner LJ van Zyl, he
steered South Africa to 1-2,
where he nished as a
runner-up at the 2012
continental championships in
Kenya. Fredericks has now
displaced Van Zyl as SAs
number one 400m hurdler
and he is denitely the one to
watch in Morocco, especially
now that he has gathered
experience competing
internationally with the likes
of Javier Culson (Puerto
Rico), Michael Tinsley and
Bershawn Jackson (both US).
The full squad:
Ruan de Vries (110m
hurdles); LJ van Zyl, Wenda
Nel, Annerie Ebersohn (all
400m hurdles); Rikenette
Steenkamp (100m hurdles)
Jumps
Khotso Mokoena
Age: 29
Events: long jump, triple
jump
Season best: 8.02m (long
jump), 17.20m (triple jump)
Mokoenas gold at Glasgow
last Saturday ended a
three-year dry spell. He
was the African long jump
champion in 2010 and he is
well poised for a medal in
Morocco, given his newly
found form in the triple
jump. He last competed in
the event as a junior in
2006 until he marked a
comeback as the national
champion at the SA
Championships early this
year.
The full squad:
Zarck Visser, Rushwal
Samaai, Carla Marais (all
long jump); Cheyne Rahme,
Deone Joubert, Juan de
Swardt (all pole vault);
Bianca Erwee (high jump)
Throws
Sunette Viljoen
Age: 30
Event: Javelin
Season best: 64.77m
A champion at the 2010
African Championships,
Viljoen is in good shape to
reclaim her continental title
and bid for her fourth
continental career medal.
Her silver medal at the
Commonwealth Games
proved her potential and
consistency in an event she
has dominated for so long.
The full squad:
Orazio Cremona, Jaco
Engelbrecht, Lezaan
Jordaan (all shot put);
Victor Hogan, Russel
Tucker, Elizna Naude (all
discus); Chris Harmse,
Nanette Stapelberg (both
hammer); Rocco van
Rooyen, Robert Oosthuizen
(both javelin)
Combined events
The full squad:
Willem Coertzen (decathlon)
Lebogang
Shange
Corli
Swart
Bianca Erwee
(heptathlon)
DANIEL MOTHOWAGAE, RUDI LOUW, Graphics24