Shot-putter JL van Rensburg heaved South Africa onto the medals table at the under-20 world championships in Peru on Tuesday night, while two of the country’s Olympic relay stars powered their way into the men’s 100m final.
Van Rensburg shifted the put to a 20.74m personal best to take silver on the opening day of the age group showpiece in Lima.
He was only 2cm behind Dutchman Jarno van Daalen, who also landed a personal best. In the qualifying round in the morning Van Rensburg threw a 20.01m personal best.
In the men’s 100m Bayanda Walaza and Bradley Nkoana, both members of the 4x100m relay team that won silver at the Paris Olympics earlier this month, breezed into Wednesday night’s final.
Walaza won the third semifinal in 10.33sec while Nkoana was second in his heat in 10.30sec, one-thousandth of a second behind Thailand’s Puripol Boonson, the fastest of the night.
North West University student Nkoana and Pretoria-based matric pupil Walaza are seeded second and third going into the final, where the eight contenders were separated by 0.13sec in the semifinals.
Nkoana, 19, and Walaza, 18, won their heats in the morning, going 10.27sec and 10.28sec respectively.
The men’s 100m final, scheduled for 1.47am on Thursday (SA time), will also feature two Jamaicans, but no Americans.
In the women’s 100m, Viwe Jingqi, competing at her third under-20 world championships, reached the final after ending third in her semifinal in 11.49sec, the fourth-fastest time of the evening.
Kishawana Niles of Barbados set the pace on 11.39sec.
In other action, Carise van Rooyen ended fourth in her 800m heat in 2min 07.51sec to advance to the semifinals on Thursday.
Van Rensburg lands silver as Olympic stars power into men’s 100m final
Image: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
Shot-putter JL van Rensburg heaved South Africa onto the medals table at the under-20 world championships in Peru on Tuesday night, while two of the country’s Olympic relay stars powered their way into the men’s 100m final.
Van Rensburg shifted the put to a 20.74m personal best to take silver on the opening day of the age group showpiece in Lima.
He was only 2cm behind Dutchman Jarno van Daalen, who also landed a personal best. In the qualifying round in the morning Van Rensburg threw a 20.01m personal best.
In the men’s 100m Bayanda Walaza and Bradley Nkoana, both members of the 4x100m relay team that won silver at the Paris Olympics earlier this month, breezed into Wednesday night’s final.
Walaza won the third semifinal in 10.33sec while Nkoana was second in his heat in 10.30sec, one-thousandth of a second behind Thailand’s Puripol Boonson, the fastest of the night.
North West University student Nkoana and Pretoria-based matric pupil Walaza are seeded second and third going into the final, where the eight contenders were separated by 0.13sec in the semifinals.
Nkoana, 19, and Walaza, 18, won their heats in the morning, going 10.27sec and 10.28sec respectively.
The men’s 100m final, scheduled for 1.47am on Thursday (SA time), will also feature two Jamaicans, but no Americans.
In the women’s 100m, Viwe Jingqi, competing at her third under-20 world championships, reached the final after ending third in her semifinal in 11.49sec, the fourth-fastest time of the evening.
Kishawana Niles of Barbados set the pace on 11.39sec.
In other action, Carise van Rooyen ended fourth in her 800m heat in 2min 07.51sec to advance to the semifinals on Thursday.
Tears of joy at capping ceremony for Olympian matric pupil Walaza
‘My life was hell without athletics,’ says teen sprint star Viwe Jingqi
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