Women athletes brought in a major haul of the medals enabling Team South Africa to return home as African champions after dominating the CAA African Senior Championships in Douala, Cameroon last week.
After finishing second behind Kenya at the last two editions of the continental showpiece, the national team secured a total of 19 medals (including nine gold, four silver and six bronze) to return to the top of the standings for the first time since South Africa hosted the event in Durban in 2016.
The gold medal-winning women athletes in Team SA were Miranda Coetzee (400m), Rogail Joseph (400m hurdles), teenager Ashley Erasmus (shot put), Jo-Ane van Dyk (javelin throw), Mirè Reinstorf (pole vault) and the mixed 4x400m relay team.
The silver medallists included Marioné Fourie (100m hurdles), Miné de Klerk (shot put) and Jana van Schalkwyk (javelin throw), and rounding off the podium performances, Danielle Nolte (long jump), Shannon Verster (heptathlon) and Collette Uys (shot put) all earned bronze medals.
Standout performances were produced by 19-year-old Erasmus and the mixed 4x400m relay team, who broke national records.
Erasmus led a South African sweep of the podium in the women’s shot put final, winning gold with a best throw of 18.17 metres. She added 29 centimetres to the long-standing South African record of 17.88m set by Drienkie van Wyk in Germiston in 2002.
The mixed 4x400m relay team of Gardeo Isaacs, Shirley Nekhubui, Mthi Mthimkulu and Miranda Coetzee, raced to victory in the final in 3:13.12, shattering the SA record of 3:14.97 which had been set by a different quartet at the ASA Grand Prix meeting in Johannesburg earlier this season.
Miranda Coetzee also shone in the women’s 400m sprint, retaining the African title she won in Mauritius two years ago, by completing the one-lap race in 51.16 seconds.
In the semifinals, she had finished even quicker, winning her race in 50.90, and dipping under the qualifying standard of 50.95 for the Olympic Games in Paris in August.
“Our soldiers have fulfilled the mandate given to them at this championship and have reclaimed the African crown after wrestling it from Kenya!”
Athletics South Africa President, James Moloi
“The beauty of it all is that this mega achievement comes at the time when the whole Rainbow Nation needs such inspirational stories. This comes also at a time when South Africa needed a morale booster ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris, France next month under Team South Africa led by SASCOC, our national Olympic mother body.
“Our entire Athletics Family is grateful to all athletes, coaches, managers, medical team and all other support staff. In particular, we thank all athletes to continue to seek top performance despite the dire challenges they all had to endure with the entire team during the entire competition,” said Moloi.
“We thank them for not allowing themselves to be distracted from the task of representing South Africa first and fought for the honour of beating the rest of the continent, to earn the bragging rights. We thank provinces and the various sponsors at the different levels of the season for making this all possible.
Photo: Athletics SA
“We are now keeping our fingers crossed that World Athletics will accept this entire competition as legitimate, so that deserving athletes throughout Africa, including ours can be admitted to the Olympics.”
Notes:
* SA records and Olympic qualifying performances are subject to standard ratification processes
** Results are subject to amendment due to technical challenges experienced by the hosts
Original Copy: Athletics SA, with editing by gsport
Main Photo Caption: Pictured in this file photo with ASA President James Moloi, 400m gold medalist Miranda Coetzee was among 12 women medal winners in Team SA’s 19-medal haul to win the CAA African Senior Championships in Douala, Cameroon. File Photo: Cecilia van Bers
Photo 2 Caption: Mirè Reinstorf (left) won gold in the continental pole vault, and SA record holder Marioné Fourie earned silver in the 100m hurdles in Cameroon. Photo: Athletics SA
Photo 3 Caption: Shirley Nekhubui earned gold in the mixed 4x400m relay team alongside Miranda Coetzee in a new SA record of 3:14.97. File Photo: Cecilia van Bers
Photo 4 Caption: Rogail Joseph stormed to the win in the 400m hurdles at the CAA African Senior Championships in Douala. Photo: Athletics SA
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