SA athletes eye Rio Olympics qualification
The versatile Stephen Mokoka provided the highlight of the morning at the ASA Track and Field Championships in Stellenbosch when he defended his 5000m title against the favoured Elroy Galant.
Galant went out on a fast pace of 13:15 that would have seen him well under the qualifying time but the other 42 athletes weren't up for the chase, leaving Galant 50 metres clear of the field after three laps.
Mokoka, who has already qualified for Rio in the marathon, stepped up a gear to close the gap and was then content to tuck in behind Galant with his sole goal of defending his 5000m title using the least effort, as his main focus will be the 10 000m race on Saturday.
After 3000m, the duo were joined by Sibusiso Nzima, another marathon runner, who took the lead with four laps to go.
On the bell lap Galant was the first to pick up the pace but Mokoka came off the bend into the home straight and pulled away to take the title in 13:40.81 with Galant finishing in 13:43.43 and Nzima in 13:45.73
Fredericks eyes 400m hurdle Olympic qualifying
400m hurdle specialists Cornel Fredericks and LJ van Zyl were first and second in the first of the midday heats and will be the top contenders in the final tonight.
The duo will be targeting the Olympic qualification time of 49.4seconds, but this could be a hard call with only six hours recovery.
This short period may not be normal for a track meeting but perhaps good preparation for the multiple rounds they will experience in African and Olympic Games this year.
Irvette van Zyl, the wife of LJ, was totally dominant in the women’s 5000m, running from gun to line in a new personal best of 16:02.64.
Her time does give a clear indication of her 2:32 marathon ability at this
time, and she is currently expected to turn out in Sunday’s Spar
Ladies Series from Green Point in Cape Town where a new course record could be
on the cards.
While it has to be accepted that autumn weather in Stellenbosch can be something of a lottery, the championship programme does the athletes no favours as the distance events were scheduled for late morning and midday sun while the sprints finals have been programmed for late evening. In this Olympic year, where times are important, it may have been preferable to reverse that concept.
The afternoon session commenced with Carina Horn recording 11.36 for the first round of the 100m, only 0.4 sec outside the qualifying time. Although both Horn and Alyssa Conely have already qualified for the Rio Olympics, their times at sea level are arguably even more important.