More gold for Jobodwana in Russia

Anaso Jobodwana claimed a superb sprint double at the World Student Games in Kazan, Russia, on Wednesday, adding the men's 200m title to the 100m gold he won earlier in the week.

Jobodwana burst across the line in 20.00, finishing 0.23 seconds clear of defending champion Rasheed Dwyer of Jamaica.

While he was 0.11 seconds inside the 11-year-old South African record held by Morne Nagel, the time was recorded with a 2.4m/s tailwind and did not count for record purposes.

"It was a bit unlucky with the wind but the conditions were perfect," Jobodwana said after his race. "It was not too cold, not too hot."

The 20-year-old from the Eastern Cape, who reached the 200m final at last year's London Olympic Games, had missed the SA 100m record by just 0.04 seconds on Monday, matching his 10.10 career best to win gold in the shorter event.

Jobodwana became the first man to win the short sprint double at the World Student Games since Italian Pietro Mennea won 100m and 200m gold at the 1975 edition in Rome.

He will be back on the track on Thursday, leading the men's 4x100m relay quartet in the first-round heats as they begin the defence of their title.

"After four rounds (in the 200m) I think I've proved that my body is in good shape, so I was happy with my performance," said Jobodwana. "I'll now turn my focus to the relay."

While the lanky sprint sensation was celebrating his second victory, Robert Oosthuizen was racking up the country's eighth medal of the Games.

Oosthuizen heaved a first-round attempt of 81.63m to grab the silver medal in the men's javelin throw final, with Dmitri Tarabin of Russia clinching gold with a best of 83.11m.

"I'm happy with my performance. I've been struggling this season, so to throw over 81m again felt very good," said Oosthuizen.

While Jobodwana was aided by the strong wind, Oosthuizen and the rest of the men's javelin throw field battled in the conditions.

"There was a strong headwind," he said," but it was the same for everyone, so I can't complain."

Earlier in Wednesday's evening session, Gideon Trotter had been eliminated in the semifinals of the 200m sprint.

Arista Nienaber and Justine Palframan were also unable to progress beyond the penultimate round of the women's 200m event.

In the morning, Rynardt van Rensburg had coasted into the men's 800m semifinals, finishing second in his heat in 1:53.94, while Jeromy Andreas and Andries Hlaselo both booked their places in the men's 5 000m final, which will be held on Friday.

Biance Erwee was lying 13th of 19 competitors after four events in the women's heptathlon.

Elsewhere, on the first day of competition in the pool, the swimming team struggled in their first-round heats, and while they did not progress in any of their early disciplines, they remained confident of shining later in the week.

Ayrton Sweeney (men's 400m freestyle), Trudi Maree (women's 50m butterfly), Richard Ellis and David de Villiers (men's 100m backstroke), Giulio Zorzi (men's 50m butterfly and 100m breaststroke), Nico Meyer (men's 50m butterfly) and the SA men's 4x100m freestyle relay quartet were knocked out in the preliminary rounds in their events.

(File Photo: Gallo Images)

-Team SA