 |
|
|
|
SA aim to retain No 1 Africa ranking
A new-look South African team will be out to retain their No 1 ranking on the continent when the five-day African Athletics Championships get under way in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday.
You can catch full TV coverage of the event on SuperSport - both the morning and afternoon sessions - so check Action Attractions for your region for more details.
Only eight of the medallists remain from the nation's successful campaign in Addis Ababa two years ago, but with a host of new stars the team will be confident of topping the medals table for the fifth continental championships in succession.
Four gold medallists return to defend their titles, with three-times champion Chris Harmse looking for another winning performance in the men's hammer throw and Elizna Naude arriving in the Kenyan capital as the big favourite to win the women's discus throw.
Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion LJ van Zyl, however, will face a strong challenge from countryman Cornel Fredericks, the national champion, and African record holder Sunette Viljoen will have her hands full against teammate Justine Robbeson who has fully recovered from elbow surgery.
World 800m champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi will be gunning for a title that has eluded him throughout his career, hoping to improve on his silver medal performance from Algiers 10 years ago.
South Africa secured a cleansweep in the women's high jump in Addis Ababa, led by Anika Smit's gold-medal winning performance, but will not have a single athlete on the podium in that event with no women's high jumpers selected for the team.
There will also be no defence of the men's 4X400m title, with the nation represented by only one relay team. While he won't defend his title in the individual 200m sprint, Thuso Mpuang leads a five-man 4X100m relay squad who will be out to defend the continental title.
South Africa have topped the medals table at every African
Championships since 2002, and will hope to repeat their feat of two
years ago when they secured 12 gold, two silver and eight bronze
medals.
