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Hermanus (Manie) Blom is a big man with a big smile. And he would have been beaming after winning the gold medal in the men’s F12 shot put at the 2025 Toyota SASAPD National Championships in Gqeberha on Sunday.
The visually-impaired Gauteng para-athlete had a best heave of 13.37m to take gold. He had been a finalist at the Paris Games where he finished seventh with a distance of 13.16m. He was one of the “characters” in the Team SA squad at the Paralympics and has been in good form this season and will be delighted with his performance in these Nationals.
Elsewhere, evergreen Sheryl James confirmed her status as a premier sprinter when she won the T37 100m title at the, She saw off competition from Liezel Gouws, her teammate from the last two Paralympics, to win in 14.22sec.
Representing Limpopo, James, herself a two-time Paralympian and bronze medallist in the 400m from Tokyo, will be happy with her performance and is showing that she still has the enthusiasm for top-level competition at the age of 39.
Apart from Blom and James, another Paris Paralympian won gold in the track and field held at the Nelson Mandela University Summerstrand track.
That was Khumo Pitso, who made his Paralympic debut at the age of 19 last year and recently turned 20. He won gold in the T46 high jump category, which is 8cm lower than he cleared in Paris, but equalled his season’s best and was enough to win gold.
There are eight different sporting codes being contested over the three days of competition.
File photo: ROGER SEDRES
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