Jobodwana qualifies for London 2012
Anaso Jobodwana qualified for the Olympic Games in the men’s 200m when he dipped under the 20.55sec Olympic qualifying mark at the 17th International Athletics Meeting in Honour of Miners Day in Velenje, Slovenia, on Thursday.
He was up against athletes from six different countries and outperformed everybody to win his race in 20.50sec against a headwind of 0.7m/sec. Steven Colvert from Ireland came second in 20.57sec with Jamaican Ainsley Waugh crossing the line third in 20.58sec. South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk competed in the same race and finished fifth overall (20.91sec), behind Britain’s Daniel Talbot in 20.71sec.
Jobodwana’s first qualifier was at the Mississippi Open in Oxford, US, on 14 April where he clocked a very fast 20.32sec, ranking him the fastest athlete in South Africa this season. At the time he was still a student at Jackson State University where he studied Sports Administration, but the Eastern Cape athlete recently returned to South Africa due to the university system not allowing him to compete on the European circuit. The 19-year-old came third at the SA Junior Championships in 2010 and is currently ranked number 18 in the world.
Elroy Gelant won the men’s 5 000m ahead of Abdi Naeeye (NED) and Joilson Da Silve from Brazil. Gelant did not reach the qualifying standard of 13:20 with the clock reading 13:46.17 as he crossed the line. Nageeye and Da Silva clocked 13:58.11 and 13:58.89 respectively.
In the men’s 800m, Johan Cronje finished second behind Zan Rudolf (SLO) with El Amine Mouchine (MOR) crossing the line just after him in 1:46.93. Rudolf won in 1:46.79 with Cronje crossing the line in 1:46.87.
Ruan Greyling finished fourth in the men’s 400m clocking 46.55sec. The winning time was 45.70sec by Marco Vistalli from Italy.
Patience Ntshingila, Claudia Viljoen and Estie Wittstock were among the South African women that competed in Sweden.
Wittstock in the 400m crossed the line in 52.99sec behind Italian national champion Maria Spacca (52.73sec).
Long jump World Championships silver medallist Olga Kucherenko (SWE) won the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.90m in the third round ahead of Serbia’s Ivana spanovic and South African Patience Ntshingila. Spanovic finished with 6.53m while Ntshingila’s attempt of 6.19m in the final round of the women’s long jump ensured her the third position.
Claudia Viljoen finished 10th overall in the women’s 100m hurdles in 13.84sec. The winning time was 13.11sec by Beate Schrott (AUT).
