Olivier sets Olympic qualifying standard
Andre Olivier set a personal best to put one foot in the Olympic qualifying door when he finished seventh in the men's 800 metres race at the FBK Games in Hengelo, the Netherlands, on Sunday.
Olivier clocked one minute, 45.20 seconds (1:45.20), dipping 0.4 seconds under the qualifying standard for the London Games.
Adam Kszczot of Poland won the race in 1:43.83.
Olivier must set the mark once more before the June 30 qualifying deadline.
Juan van Deventer, meanwhile, narrowly missed the standard in only his second race after a lengthy injury layoff, finishing 11th in the men's 1 500m.
Van Deventer clocked 3:35.55 to miss the mark by 0.05 seconds in a fast race won by Kenyan Nixon Chepseba in 3:29.90.
The South African, who reached the 1 500m final at the Beijing Games in 2008, was sidelined for 12 months after he was hit by a car and broke his knee while training in May 2011.
Double amputee Oscar Pistorius finished fifth in the men's 400m race in 46.35, missing the qualifying mark by more than a second as he continued his struggle to book a place in the SA team for the able-bodied Games.
