Hannah and 4x400m relay team land two medals on final day of champs

Udeme Okon picked up his second medal of the under-20 world championships in Lima on Saturday night (Sunday morning SA time) as South Africa added two medals on the final day of competition.

Okon, the 400m champion, anchored the 4x400m relay team to silver in 3 min 05.22 sec while Hannah van Niekerk, 19, ran a 56.98 lifetime best in the 400m hurdles to take bronze to become the only woman to contribute to South Africa’s haul of seven medals.

The country’s three gold, two silver and two bronze placed them sixth overall.

The US topped the medals table (16 medals and eight gold) with Ethiopia second (10 medals and six gold). Kenya were the second-placed African team with seven medals, comprising three gold and three silver.

Bryan Katoo ran the first leg of the relay in 47.16 sec, giving the baton to Sihle Mahlangu in fifth place, behind the US, India, Poland and Australia.

But Mahlangu stormed around the track in 45.50 sec — the third-fastest split of the night — to pull South Africa into second spot.

Njabulo Mbatha, who earlier in the evening had ended fourth in the men’s 400m hurdles in 49.68 sec, missing out on the podium by just seven-hundredths of a second, ran the third leg in 46.81 to push South Africa’s lead to just more than half-a-second over Poland, who were lying third at the time.

Okon closed out the race in style, completing the final lap in 45.75. The US were more than a second ahead in 3:03.56 while Australia finished strongly to take third place in 3:05.53.

“The silver medal really made up for the fourth place I got in the 400m hurdles, but I’m really honoured and privileged to represent my country,” Mbatha said afterwards. 

Mahlangu admitted being a little shaky at the start. “But we put trust in our abilities, put trust in ourselves and we came home with the medal. The plan was gold, but we’re still proud of the silver. We hope to see this relay grow to the Olympic stage.”