SportPREMIUM

BLAST FROM THE PAST | SA track team top medals table in Guangzhou

Today in SA sport history: May 11

Bayanda Walaza, Akani Simbine, Sinesipho Dambile and Bradley Nkoana celebrate after winning their 4x100m heat at the World Relays in China on Saturday. Walaza, Simbine and Nkoana were members of the team that won Olympic silver in Paris last year.
Bayanda Walaza, Akani Simbine, Sinesipho Dambile and Bradley Nkoana celebrate after winning their 4x100m heat at the World Relays in China. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

1980 — Simon “Bull” Lehoko scores from a 35-metre free kick to help Kaizer Chiefs to a 2-1 victory over Pilkington United Brothers in the second leg of the Champion of Champions finals at Orlando Stadium for an aggregate 3-1 win. The other two goals by Chiefs in the two matches were effectively own goals by PUBs, who were lying bottom of the league at the time.

1980 — Desiré Wilson and her British partner Alain de Cadenet win the six-hour world sportscar championships at Silverstone against all odds. With 90 minutes to go Wilson was given a one-lap penalty for cutting across the chicane after the gears of her car jammed, but she fought back to win the race by 18 seconds.

2005 — Charl Langeveldt takes 5/62, featuring a hat-trick in the final over, to secure a thrilling one-run victory for the Proteas in the third ODI against the West Indies in Bridgetown for an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. The hosts were 281/7 going into the final over, needing four runs to win after South Africa had scored 284/6, in which Boeta Dippenaar made 123 and Jacques Kallis 87. Chris Gayle had given the hosts a great start with 132, and they were cruising to victory. Langeveldt started the final over conceding two singles to new batsman Ian Bradshaw and then Dwayne Bravo. With his third ball Langeveldt bowled Bradshaw, then he bowled Daren Powell and with the following ball, the penultimate of the match, he trapped Corey Collymore leg before wicket to become the first South African to claim an ODI hat-trick.

2008 — Hennie Otto claims the first of his three European Tour crowns as he cards an overall 25-under-par 263 to win the Italian Open in Milan by one stroke.

2017 — Laura Wolvaardt scores 149 and Trisha Chetty 70 as the South African women post 337/5 — the team’s highest ODI total to date — on their way to beating Ireland by 178 runs in a quadrangular series ODI in Potchefstroom.

2018 — Lizelle Lee scores 70 and Chloe Tryon 60 off 42 balls as the South African women make 230/7 on their way to beating Bangladesh by 154 runs in the fourth ODI in Kimberley.

2025 — The South African track team finishes top of the medals table at the World Relays competition in Guangzhou, China, winning gold in the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m and taking bronze in the women’s 4x400m. Akani Simbine overhauled his US rival on the final anchor leg to cross the line first in 37.61 sec to secure victory for teammates Bayanda Walaza, Sinesipho Dambile and Bradley Nkoana. Veterans Zakithi Nene and Gardeo Isaacs teamed up with schoolboys Udeme Okon and Leendert Koekemoer to win the men’s 4x400m in a 2 min 57.50 sec national record. Shirley Nekhubui, Miranda Coetzee, Precious Molepo and Zeney Geldenhuys finished third in the women’s 4x400m in a 3:24.84 South African record. Both Walaza and Okon had won under-20 world titles the previous year, Walaza taking the 100m-200m double and Okon the 400m.

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