Another day, another South African sprint record.
Henricho Bruintjies broke the South African 100m record, clocking 9.97sec at a meet in Switzerland yesterday, less than 24 hours after Wayde van Niekerk had bettered the 400m African mark in Paris.
The University of Pretoria sprinter improved on Simon Magakwe's 9.98 milestone from 2014 to become the third South African man to break 10 seconds - and the second in just five days.
His Tuks teammate Akani Simbine registered 9.99 running into a slight headwind on Wednesday night.
Both will compete at the World Student Games in Korea this week, as will long-jumper Zarck Visser, who pushed his own personal best to 8.41m in Germany on Saturday. With Anaso Jobodwana having beaten the national 200m record twice in May, South African men have improved on all three sprint marks in less than two months. But the most impressive was Van Niekerk's 43.96 effort to down Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada.
Botswana's Isaac Makwala reclaimed the record yesterday, going 43.72, also in Switzerland. Even so, Van Niekerk's time ranks him 11th on the all-time list, topped by American Michael Johnson on 43.18. The SA 4x100m relay team that finished fourth at the Commonwealth Games set a 38.35 national record that could yet be fast enough to qualify them for China.
Local pundits are also getting excited at the possibility of a 4x400m team, spearheaded by Van Niekerk.
However, it's unlikely that an SA team will have the opportunity to qualify for that before the August 10 deadline. While it's probably too late for Athletics SA to try co-ordinate the athletes before then - given their training and competition schedules - the federation will have to make a plan to ensure they at least try qualify for the Olympics next year.
SA sprinters run away with records
Another day, another South African sprint record.
Henricho Bruintjies broke the South African 100m record, clocking 9.97sec at a meet in Switzerland yesterday, less than 24 hours after Wayde van Niekerk had bettered the 400m African mark in Paris.
The University of Pretoria sprinter improved on Simon Magakwe's 9.98 milestone from 2014 to become the third South African man to break 10 seconds - and the second in just five days.
His Tuks teammate Akani Simbine registered 9.99 running into a slight headwind on Wednesday night.
Both will compete at the World Student Games in Korea this week, as will long-jumper Zarck Visser, who pushed his own personal best to 8.41m in Germany on Saturday. With Anaso Jobodwana having beaten the national 200m record twice in May, South African men have improved on all three sprint marks in less than two months. But the most impressive was Van Niekerk's 43.96 effort to down Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada.
Botswana's Isaac Makwala reclaimed the record yesterday, going 43.72, also in Switzerland. Even so, Van Niekerk's time ranks him 11th on the all-time list, topped by American Michael Johnson on 43.18. The SA 4x100m relay team that finished fourth at the Commonwealth Games set a 38.35 national record that could yet be fast enough to qualify them for China.
Local pundits are also getting excited at the possibility of a 4x400m team, spearheaded by Van Niekerk.
However, it's unlikely that an SA team will have the opportunity to qualify for that before the August 10 deadline. While it's probably too late for Athletics SA to try co-ordinate the athletes before then - given their training and competition schedules - the federation will have to make a plan to ensure they at least try qualify for the Olympics next year.
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