South African will be represented by 19 athletes at the World Athletics Relays championship to be held in Guangzhou, China next week. The national squad will compete in four events, including the men’s 4x100m, the men’s and women’s 4x400m and the mixed 4x400m.
The men’s 4x100m team will be anchored by national 100m record holder Akani Simbine, who earned bronze in the 60m final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing earlier this year.
He will be joined by junior sensation Bayanda Walaza and fellow rising star Bradley Nkoana, both of whom joined Simbine in the sprint relay team that earned South Africa the silver medal at last year’s Olympic Games in Paris, as well as national 200m champion Sinesipho Dambile, Retshidisitswe Mlenga and Tsebo Matsoso.
The men’s 4x400m team features SA one-lap champion Zakithi Nene, world junior 400m champion Udeme Okon, former world junior champion Lythe Pillay, Gardeo Isaacs, Tumisang Shezi and Mthi Mthimkulu. Nene, Pillay and Isaacs all formed part of the quartet that earned silver in the 4x400m event at the World Athletics Relays in Bahamas last season.
The women’s 4x400m relay team will be led by national one-lap champion Miranda Coetzee, and she will be joined by hurdles specialists Zeney Geldenhuys and Hannah van Niekerk, as well as Shirley Nekhubui, Precious Molepo and Jada van Staden.
Isaacs, Coetzee and Nekhubui will also turn out in the mixed 4x400m event, along with Leendert Koekemoer, who broke the SA U20 men’s 400m record when he clocked 45.03 seconds at the ASA Senior Track and Field Championships in Potchefstroom last week.
he team captains are Akani Simbine (men) and Zeney Geldenhuys (women).
“We are excited about the prospects of this national team based on how some of our athletes have been doing well so far in their build ups since the year began,” said James Moloi, the President of Athletics South Africa. “A lot is expected from the team as a result of their performances this far.
“The athletes are obviously highly motivated and largely boosted by our successes at this global championships last year. We congratulate all athletes who have made it to the team and it is their opportunity to prove that they were selected to add numbers.”
