Rene Kalmer en route to her dominating win at the South Africa Championships (© Mark Ouma)
Khotso Mokoena, Chris Harmse, and Janice Josephs posted impressive performances on the first day at the South Africa Senior Track and Field Championships in eThekwini (Durban) on Friday (16).
Competing at the championship is compulsory for South Africans hoping to compete at August's IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka, Japan. Only those who achieve the IAAF ‘A’ qualifying standard are guaranteed a place on the Osaka-bound team.
Title defence a breeze for Mokoena
A second round leap of 8.16 metres (+2.0 assisting wind) was enough for Mokoena to retain his national title in the men’s Long Jump. This gave way to an intense contest for the minor positions with Yaw Fosu-Amoah (7.86) finishing runner up ahead of Martin Mc Clintoch (7.62).
“I am satisfied with retaining my title," said Mokoena. "However, I feel I could have jumped further if the jumping board was more firmly anchor on the ground. I could not get the height I was looking for so I opted to call it a day after my fourth jump.”
For Harmse, win streak extended to dandy dozen
Chris Harmse asserted his dominance in the hammer throw with a 74.35m effort. It was a particularly pleasant win for Harmse who two months ago had his training interrupted by a freak accident when he was pierced with a javelin. This is his 12th consecutive national championship victory in the event.
“Although this is well below my best performance at the nationals, I am happy with this my best throw since resuming training," said Harmse, who set an African record of 80.63 at the 2005 national chamionships. "Over the next two months I want to do a lot of throwing so that defending my title at the All Africa Games will be a warm up to a big throw well over 80 metres at the World Championships."
PB for Josephs en route to Long Jump title
Janice Josephs equalled her personal best of 6.62m on her fourth attempt in the women’s Long Jump, taking the title by a whopping 70 cm. Having already retained her national Heptathlon title two weeks ago, the 24-year-old has ambitious plans.
“In June I aim to achieve the Heptathlon qualifier for Osaka in France. So that in Osaka after the Heptathlon I want to see how close I can get to the national record of 6.85m,” Josephs said.
Elsewhere...
In a strong solo effort, Rene Kalmer blew away the field to win the women’s 5000m. Her winning time of 15:35.00, bettered her career best by over 48 seconds, one that had stood since 2001.
Africa junior Shot Put champion Simone du Toit won the senior title with a throw of 16.87, a mere eight centimetres shy of her career best. Making a comeback to athletics former national champion Veronica Abrahamse (16.29) was runner up.
Meanwhile an anti-doping awareness campaign is in progress for the duration of the two day event. Besides athletes and their entourage (coaches, managers, agent, and families), the campaign has attracted significant public interest.
Mark Ouma for the IAAF
SELECTED RESULTS (All Athletes are South African unless otherwise mentioned)
MEN -
10,000m:
1. Coolboy Ngamole 28:57.78
2. Alexander Motone 28:58.87
3. Themba Miya 29:02.46 PB
4. Stephen Mokoka 29:04.64 PB
5. Jacob Molokoane 29:33.43 PB
6. Thubalathu Phaku 29:42.42
7. Samuel Tsosana 29:57.41 PB
Pole Vault:
1. Riaan Botha 4.80
2. Shane Rahme 4.60
Long Jump:
1. Khotso Mokoena 8.16 (+2.0)
2. Yaw Fosu-Amoah 7.86 (+1.8)
3. Martin McClintoch 7.62 (+1.2)
Shot Put:
1. Rolie Potgieter 18.63
2. Janus Robberts 18.60
3. Jan (JP) Hoffman 17.41
Hammer:
1. Chris Harmse 74.35 WAC B
2. Richardo Meiring 60.90
3. Bekker Kristiaan 58.93
WOMEN -
400m:
1. Estie Wittstock 53.85
2. Tihanna Vorster 54.37
3. Alet van Wyk 54.77
4. Elisa Cossa (Mozambique) 56.08
5000m:
1. Rene Kalmer 15:35.00 PB
2. Zintle Xiniwe 16:25.70
3. Poppy Mlambo 16:31.50
4. Thozama April 16:35.90 PB
5. Tanith Maxwell 16:36.40 PB
6. Annerien van Schalkwyk 16.48.80 PB
7. Smangile Mabuza 16:48.90 PB
Long Jump:
1. Janice Josephs 6.62 (-1.7) PB
2. Christry Coetzee 5.88 (-0.6) PB
3. Daniela Fourie 5.59 (-1.6)
Pole Vault:
1. Sylma Jordaan 3.50
2. Leanne Viviers 3.50
3. Eva Thornton 3.50
Shot Put:
1. Simone du Tiot 16.87
2. Veronica Abrahamse 16.29
3. Maranelle Basson 15.24
