The time has come to once again honour the best in sport, on and off the field in Gauteng, as the finalists for the 2022 edition of the Gauteng Sport Awards were put forward at the official announcement in Soweto on Thursday, 03 November 2022.
With Gauteng being the breeding ground for the identification, nurturing and development of raw talent, as well as the largest contributor of sporting stars and heroes in South Africa, the main aim is to recognise and honour individuals and teams who have excelled both on and off the field.
The new MEC of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation in Gauteng Ms Morakane Mosupyoe unveiled the finalists that have been shortlisted ahead of this year’s ceremony, including #gsport17 triple winner Lara van Niekerk. Van Niekerk is a finalist in the Sportswoman of the Year category and Sport Personality of the Year. We saw the swimming sensation underline her status as one to watch in major competitions after she won double gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The 19-year-old broke the Commonwealth Games record three times on her way to winning gold in the women’s 50m breaststroke. She swam 29.73sec to finish 0.44sec ahead of England’s Imogen Clark in the final.
Three days later, van Niekerk took gold in 1:05.47, a time that would have won her the World Championships event in Budapest earlier in the year, with Schoenmaker (1:06.68) settling for silver.
The Pretoria- born van Niekerk will vie for this coveted award against Karate athlete Tiane de Bod and Momentum Proteas bowler Ayabonga Khaka, who’s been in sublime form for the senior national cricket side.
The right-armer was clinical in the team’s World Cup opener against Bangladesh in New Zealand as she became only the fifth South African woman to take 100 ODI wickets.
SA ended their World Cup campaign at the semi-final stage, with Khaka taking 12 wickets to finish sixth on the wicket-taker’s list.
In the Sport Personality of the Year catagory van Niekerk is joined by Banyana Banyana and Mamelodi Sundowns goal keeper Andile Dlamini. Dlamini and her magical hands denied many teams goals against South Africa in the TotalEngergies WAFCON, leading to Banyana Banayana being crowned the African Champions.
She was the shot-stopper in all six matches, keeping three clean sheets, conceding just three goals. These heroics earned the 29 year old the CAF Goalkeeper of the tournament accolade.
The Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability category features Para-athlete Dimakatso Letageng, Yane van der Merwe of the South African Sport Association for Physically Disabled as well as Michelle Mmasefako Moganedi who plays for the Sasol SA senior women’s Wheelchair Basketball. Moganedi also represents Africa in the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) Players’ Commission.
The Coach of the Year category is another highly competitive one and it sees renowned athletics coach Irma Reyneke who’s coached many of the elite South African athletes such as sprint sensation Sokwakhana Zazini up against Gauteng Golden Fireballs Dr Elsje Jordaan and Omar Zain Eddin. Dr Jordaan became only the third coach to win the Telkom Netball League.
We are always enthralled seeing young talent being honoured and rewarded for their efforts despite the many challenges facing the youth of South Africa. The Most promising Athlete of the Year finalists are Zalika Methula, one of the very few divers of colour who, at a young age is already an ambassador for young girls. She was crowned the “queen of diving” at the national junior championships in Durban in April and represented Team SA in the Fina World Championships in Hungary.
Chloe Badenhorst beat the odds to claim top spot at the 2022 South African Chess Championships, held at Newlands Cricket ground in Cape Town from 7-14 May.
The 11th edition of the Gauteng Sport Awards will take place on the 28th of January 2023, organised by the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation with support from the provincial Sport Confederation.
Photo 1 Caption: South Africa’s swim sensation Lara van Niekerk pictured at the 2022 Momentum gsport Awards where she was crowned triple winner. Photo: gsport
(0 rating, 0 votes, rated)
Loading...
