All eyes were on Zakithi Nene as the Team SA Olympian went in search of South Africa’s first medal of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on day six of the showpiece. Nene held the second fastest time over 400m in the world this year. However, Nene, after going out strongly to lead the field through the first 250m, tired late and crossed the line in fifth in 44.55sec.
Sinesipho Dambile dipped under 20 seconds for the first time in his career as he produced a time of 19.97 to reach the final of the men’s 200m, where Wayde van Niekerk was unable to progress from the semis.
South Africa’s two hopes in the women’s 800m, Prudence Sekgodiso and Charne du Plessis, both were unable to progress to the semi-final, both registering DNFs after stepping off the track with mid-race injuries in their respective heats.
THURSDAY ACTION
MEN
200m, semi-final: Wayde van Niekerk finished 4th in his semi-final in 20.12 and missed out on a place in the final
200m, semi-final: Sinesipho Dambile raced to a personal best 19.97 in finishing 3rd in his semi-final and he qualified for the final as 6th fastest, Noah Lyles was fastest with a time of 19.51
400m, FINAL: Zakithi Nene finished 5th in 55.55
WOMEN
800m, heats: Charne du Plessis DNF, pulling off the track with an injury after 50 metres
800m, heats: Prudence Sekgodiso DNF, pulling off the track with an injury
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 reached the semi-finals where he clocked a 20.12. Sinesipho Dambile produced a PB of 19.97 in the semi-finals to qulify for the final. 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. In the final, he led through the firts 250m, before tiring to finish 5th in 44.55
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
800m: Prudence Sekgodiso and Charne du Plessis both registered DNFs in the heats, both stepping off the track with mid-race injuries
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
