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Dambile predicts big things as Jo-Ané keeps medal hopes alive

Roxanne MartinNewsLeave a Comment on Dambile predicts big things as Jo-Ané keeps medal hopes alive

Sinesipho Dambile predicted big things for next season after competing in his first World Athletics Championship final on Friday. The 23-year-old finished eighth in the 200m final in Tokyo in 20.23 seconds in a race won for the fourth time by American Noah Lyles in 19.52 seconds. By Karien Jonckheere

“I made a lot of mistakes in the final,” he said after struggling around the tight bend from lane 2. “But more than anything, I enjoyed the final. I enjoyed being in that field where it was just the top eight guys in the world in 200m and I’m looking forward to next season. It’s going to be a different Dambile going forward.”

The 200m national champion, who trains alongside fellow world champs finalist Gift Leotela and double world junior champion Bayanda Walaza, believes that with a bit more hard work, he can challenge the likes of Lyles.  

“I want to be better now. These guys are just like us. I just have to work a little bit harder and make sure next time I’m on that podium. I feel that I have all the physical gifts to do that. Just one more off-season and then I’ll be there,” he said.

Earlier in the evening, Jo-Ané du Plessis’s opening throw of 61.38m in qualification was enough to see her through to the javelin final. The distance saw the Olympic silver medallist finishing 10th overall in qualifying, with only 12 athletes making it through.

“I feel like there’s work to do… and hopefully we can correct what we did wrong tonight,” she said afterwards.

With the qualification round and final just one day apart, Du Plessis reckoned it will be the best-conditioned athletes who will perform on Saturday evening. The 27-year-old has enjoyed plenty of consistency this season, finishing on the podium in all but two of her competitions. 

“It definitely helped to get competition-ready because it’s going well in training but you have to be in charge of your emotions on the day on the field, so that’s what the competition is for – because if you’re relaxed you can do a lot of things with the javelin, but if you are a bit more stressed it’s a bit more difficult, so we’ll see.”

SA’s 200m trio book semifinal spots as Fourie misses final

Roxanne MartinNewsLeave a Comment on SA’s 200m trio book semifinal spots as Fourie misses final

Marioné Fourie was the only South African athlete in action in the evening session at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Wednesday. The 21-year-old finished sixth in her 100m semifinal in 12.89 seconds, so missing out on Thursday’s final. She admitted afterwards that she had lost focus before the race.

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“It wasn’t a good race. Yesterday was a better race than today. But it’s OK, I will come back next year to the Olympics and I will make sure I will make the final… I don’t think the whole focus was there, so maybe a little bit tired, but I think the execution wasn’t that great also, so it wasn’t a good race.”

Wednesday night’s session was highlighted by Karsten Warholm’s dominant victory in the 400m hurdles. The Norwegian sailed to the gold in a time of 46.89 to add the world title to his Olympic title claimed in Tokyo in 2021. It also meant he regained the title he last won in 2019.

Meanwhile, in a busy morning session, all three of South Africa’s 200m runners made it safely into the semifinals by finishing third in their respective heats. 2022 World Championships finalist Luxolo Adams was first up, finishing in a time of 20.15 with Shaun Maswanganyi then finishing in 20.56 and Sinesipho Dambile in 20.34.

“I’m feeling great now. I’m 100 percent back and I guess that’s one of the things that are keeping me positive and remaining healthy,” said Adams, who injured his hamstring at the SA Championships in April. “The atmosphere is amazing and the track is fast so that gives me a bit of positivity going forward again.”

Dambile was thrilled his compatriots had also made it through, saying: “That’s big, that’s big, that’s big. I’m happy for them, so we have to just find a way to make it through to the final, and I think it’s possible you know I know.”

It was also a successful morning for Prudence Sekgodiso. The 21-year-old finished second in her heat in 1:59.72 to book a spot in Friday’s 800m semifinals.

“The race went according to the plan. The plan was to be in the top three and just to follow Keely [Hodgkinson] and I did it. Now I get ready for the semifinals, anything can happen but I’m ready for anything. I’m like them why must I fear them, I’m all good,” she said afterwards.

“I was worried when I was boxed in but you know what, I just went with the flow and you see, I came second. Going to the semifinals for the second time at my second world champs, I’m just over the moon.”

Jo-Ane van Dyk’s third-round effort of 60.09m in javelin qualification was enough to see her through to Friday’s final but both Kyle Rademeyer (5.70m in the pole vault) and Cheswill Johnson (7.61m in the long jump) missed out.

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