Today in SA sports history: September 21
1979 — Star runner Matthews “Loop en Val” Motshwarateu gets a helping hand from two South African colleagues to take up a scholarship at the University of Texas in El Paso. Short of the airfare to get to the US, athletes Bernard Rose and Johnny Halberstadt dipped into their own pockets to assist him. At that stage, athletics was still strictly amateur in SA, meaning Motshwarateu, named Loop en Val for his awkward running style, was unable to earn money from the sport.
2002 — Don Cech and Ramon Di Clemente win silver in the men’s pair at the rowing world championships in Seville, Spain, improving on the bronze they won the previous year.
2002 — Striker Patrick Mayo scores twice as Bafana Bafana beat Malawi 3-1 in the first leg of the Cosafa Cup final in Blantyre, Malawi. Substitute Jimmy Kauleza scored the third goal, with two minutes of regulation time remaining. SA would head to Durban a week later searching for their first-ever Cosafa Cup triumph.
2008 — Anthony Stott and Cameron Schoeman claim the men’s K2 marathon gold at the ICF Canoe World Championships in Tyn nad Vltavou, Czech Republic, completing the 30.1km course in 2hr 2 min 14.36 sec. The previous day Stott had taken bronze in the men’s K1 marathon.
2013 — Hank McGregor wins his third K1 marathon world title, finishing first at the ICF Canoe regatta in Bagsvaerd So, Denmark, in 2hr 10 min 34 sec.
2019 — The Springboks kick off their World Cup campaign in Yokohama, but are beaten 13-23 by defending champions New Zealand. Two tries in three minutes had the New Zealanders up 17-3 at halftime. Flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit scored SA’s only try.
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