SA athletes look at African glory



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South Africa will seek to retain the continental crown at the African Championships in Athletics in Asaba, Nigeria next week.

The country has developed power on the continent, finishing at the top of the medal table for two consecutive years.

Athletics SA (ASA) selected a strong team for the championships, led by world champions Caster Semenya and Luvo Manyonga.

The team includes a host of pillars like the forties hammer thrower Chris Harmse, Olympic silver medalists Sunette Viljoen and Khotso Mokoena.

Semenya will look to continue her world domination in the 800 meters, while she'll be back in the blocks in the sprint of a ride.

In the previous Durban championships, Semenya won the 800m, 1500m and 4x400m relay titles.

South Africa will be without two of its world champions, Wayde van Niekerk, and Clarence Munyai, national record holder of the U-turn.

But the team still has enough firepower to hang on to the mainland crown for the third year in a row.

Defending champions Viljoen and Wenda Nel, a 400m hurdles female athlete, may be out of shape, but even worse, they should be the best in their respective events.

The legend of horizontal jumps, Khotso Mokoena, has the mission to prove that age is only one figure since he is looking to add a seventh medal to the continental championships. The Olympic silver medalist in long jump won the African title in long jump and triple jump.

He finished second in the long jump twice and also has silver medals and bronze triple jump.

Mokoena at the Nigerian championships in hopes of winning his second title in the hop-step-and-jump event.

"For me, the goal is to get the title, and definitely go to the Continental Cup and I feel like the best in Africa right now and I just have to prove it," he said. Mokoena.

The 33-year-old was outspoken about the country's incoherent selection criteria for major events like the Commonwealth Games. He was excluded from the national team for the quadrennial selection of the Australian Gold Coast, unable to defend his triple jump title.

"We still have a long way to go to improve our systems and start doing things differently." It's going to take time, but we hope it will be positive if they decide to use a different strategy in the selection process "[Mokoena1965p19659002] Akani Simbine, record holder in the 100m South African, is crowned champion of South Africa.

Two years ago, a tired Simbine finished third in the 100m at home in Durban, but his current form suggests that he could cross the line in the lead.

He signed the best 9.93 seconds of a season at the recent meeting of the Diamond League at London

Viljoen is expected to win his sixth African title, which could be his seventh medal since the 2006 Bamboo Championships.

The men's long jump will be another battle between Manyonga and reigning champion Ruswahl Samaai.

The duo is the only one One of the three best long-time jumpers in the world and will go to the African duel with the duel.

@ockertde

Sunday Independent

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