South Africa were still looking for their first medal of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on day five of the showpiece. On Tuesday, Zakithi Nene had set himself up as a medal favourite in the men’s 400m with an impressive win in the semi-final. Wednesday’s only final featuring South Africa was the men’s 1500m, with Tshepo Tshite in the field of 14. He finished ninth in 3:35.50.
WEDNESDAY ACTION
MEN
200m, heats: Wayde van Niekerk finished 2nd in his heat in 20.19 to qualify for the semi-finals as 11th fastest
200m, heats: Sinesipho Dambile finished 3rd in his heat in 20.27 to qualify for the semi-finals as 16th fastest
200m, heats: Naeem Jack finished 5th in his heat in 20.65 and was unable to qualify for the semi-finals
Javelin, Group B qualification: Douw Smit threw 81.23m for 18th overall and he didn’t go through to the final
1500m, FINAL: Tshepo Tshite finished 9th behind Portugal’s gold medallist Isaac Nader in 3:35.50
WOMEN
400m hurdles, semi-finals: Zeney van der Walt finished 7th in her race in 55.06 and didn’t progress to the final
OVERALL PERFORMANCES
MEN
100m: Akani Simbine and Gift Leotlela both came through the heats and semi-final to reach the final, but Retshidisitswe Mlenga fell out in the heats. Leotlela finished 5th in 9.95 in the final, with Simbine 7th in 10.04
200m: Wayde van Niekerk and Sinesipho Dambile both qualified for the semi-finals, but Naeem Jack was eliminated in the heats
400m: Zakithi Nene and Lythe Pillay both progressed from the heats into the semi-finals where Pillay was eliminated after finishing 6th in his race. Nene won his semi-final impressively in 44.20 to reach the final
1500m: Ryan Mphahlele finished 13th in his heat and didn’t progress to the semi-finals. Tshepo Tshite qualified for the final after cruising through his heat and finishing 6th in his semi-final in 3:36.93. He finished 9th in the final in 3:35.50
10,000m: Adriaan Wildschutt finished 10th in the one-off final in 29:58.47
110m hurdles: John Adesola finished 6th in his heat in 13.57, for 28th overall. Mondray Barnard also finished 6th in his heat, also in 13.57, for 30th overall. Antonio Alkana finished 7th in his heat in 13.64, for 33rd overall. None of these three qualified for the semi-finals
400m hurdles: Sabelo Dhlamini finished 5th in his heat in 49.50, for 30th overall and he did not progress to the semi-finals
Marathon: Elroy Galant finished 33rd in 2:16:32 in a race where 23 of the 89 starts were unable to complete the course
Long jump: Cheswill Johnson was eliminated in the qualification round after a distance of 7.55m left him 32rd overall
Shot put: Aiden Smith and Chris van Niekerk were eliminated in qualification
Javelin: Douw Smit threw 81.23m for 18th overall and was eliminated in qualification
WOMEN
400m: Shirley Nekhubui was eliminated in the heats
100m hurdles: Marione Fourie finished 2nd in her heat to qualify for the semi-finals, where she was DQ’d
400m hurdles: Zeney van der Walt finished 4th in her heat to qualify for the semi-finals where she finished 7th in her race and missed out on a place in the final. Rogail Joseph finished 7th in her heat but she did not qualify for the semi-finals
Long jump: Danielle Nolte was eliminated in qualification
Pole vault: Mire Reinstorf was unable to measure a height in qualification and didn’t progress to the final
35km race walk: Jessica Groenewalt finished 34th in the final
MIXED
4x400m: Team SA (Gardeo Isaacs, Miranda Coetzee, Leendert Koekemoer and Zeney van der Walt) ran an African record 3:11.16 in the heats and then Isaacs, Nekhubui, Koekemoer and Van der Walt finished 6th in the final
