Both Wayde van Niekerk and Sinesipho Dambile booked their places in the 200m semifinals in Tokyo on Wednesday, while Tsepho Tshite finished ninth in his first-ever World Championship final. By Karien Jonckheere
The 1500m national record holder was delighted to be promoted to the final following Cole Hocker’s semifinal disqualification. And although Tshepo admitted he was unhappy with his early positioning, he relished the chance to line up again, going on to finish ninth in 3 minutes 35.50.
“This is a great booster because now I can believe that it’s possible for me to compete with these guys… The way I ran the heats and semis it shows that I’m on a level with them,” he said afterwards.
Earlier in the evening, Wayde had eased through his 200m heat, looking relaxed as he crossed the line in second place in 20.19 seconds.
“It was comfortable. But I think there was a lot of rust that needed to come off today as well, so I think it was a strong start to the race and then just trying to see it through,” said the 400m world record holder who is only contesting the shorter sprint at these championships.
“I think I’m really just trying to soak in the moment and just going off everything day by day and today was a positive one so regroup and get ready for tomorrow.”
After a nerve-racking start after narrowly avoiding disqualification for twitching in his blocks, Sinesipho booked his spot in the semifinals after finishing third in his heat in 20.27 seconds.
“I was calm because I knew it wasn’t a false start, I knew I didn’t move [my feet],” he explained.
“I think through the rounds I get better… I know I’m in great shape, so in the semifinal I’ve got to make sure that I unleash everything.”
Meanwhile, Zenéy van der Walt finished seventh in her 400m hurdles semifinal in a time she wasn’t pleased with after bumping into the athlete next to her twice during the race.
“I’m not that happy [with the time], but I’m still blessed that I could represent South Africa in the semifinals at the world champs,” she said.
There was more disappointment for Team SA’s field athletes, with Douw Smit’s effort of 81.23m in javelin qualification not enough to see him through to the final.
