A squad of 153 athletes and officials have been selected to represent Team South Africa at this year’s African Games that will take place from 16-31 August, in Morocco.
The chosen individuals will be looking to fly Mzansi’s flag high at the 12th edition of the prestigious event, as the team will participate in 11 out of 26 sporting codes.
SA’s biggest contingent will come from athletics with a total of 38 athletes followed by swimming with a total of 24 athletes. Other codes that will form part of the team are: archery, badminton, canoeing, cycling, judo, table tennis, tennis, beach volleyball, and weightlifting.
Van Der Walt and Viljoen Will Be the Leading Ladies in The Athletics
Zeney Van Der Walt and Sunette Viljoen will be leading a powerful women’s athletics team and will be looking to dominate in their respective races.
Who Else Will Be Representing the Country at The Event?
South African sprint canoer and London 2012 Bronze medalist, Bridgitte Hartley will be the most experienced leading the strong canoeing team.
In addition, Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mona Pretorius will be part of the weightlifting team.
SASCOC President, Gideon Sam On the Importance of This Championship
On the South African sporting calendar, the African Games is a highly important event, as SASCOC President, Mr Gideon Sam pointed out when the team was announced.
“Previously we have sent a big team of almost 300 athletes, but as highlighted before, this year it will be impossible to send a team of 300 people due to financial constraints,” he emphasized.
“However, though the team is lean, it is a strong team of experienced athletes and we mostly included the athletes who will use these games as a qualifier for Olympic Games,” concluded Sam.
Full Women’s Squad and Categories:
Archery – Carien Whitehead
Athletics – Tebogo Mamatu, Tamzin Thomas, Justine Palframan, Danel Holton, Taylon Bield, Zeney Van Der Walt, Wenda Nel, Julia Du Plessis, Linique Beneke, Zinzi Chabangu, Patience Ntshingila, Ischke Senekal, Meike Strydom, Yolandi Stander, Margo-Chene Pretorius, Marga Cumming, Sunette Viljoen, Jo-Ane Van Dyk
Badminton – Johanita Scholtz, Megan De Beer, Leah Schoeman
Canoeing – Esti Van Tonder, Donna Hutton, Bridgitte Hartley, Nosipho Mthembu
Judo – Unelle Snyman, Genoray Whitebooi, Jasmine Martin
Swimming – Erin Gallagher, Kaylene Corbett, Jessica Whelan, Sinelithemba Mbatha, Emma Chelius, Carla Tina Antonopoulos, Samantha Randle, Christin Mundell, Kerryn Herbst
Table Tennis – Danisha Patel, Simeen Moonkrey, Palesa Mtshoelibe, Mthabiseng Mtshoelibe
Tennis – Chanel Simmonds
Weightlifting – Johani Taljaard, Mona Pretorius
Photo 1 Caption: Athlete, Sunette Viljoen flying the South African flag high after winning gold at the Athletics World Cup in July 2018 in London. Photo: Sunette Viljoen on Twitter
Photo 2 Caption: South African tennis star, Chanel Simmonds pictured in South Korea in May 2019, after having a spectacular week defying the odds and beating top seed, Ya-Hsuan Lee in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. Photo: @TennisSA on Twitter
Photo 3 Caption: Canoeist, Bridgitte Hartley paddling away at the Canoe Marathon Championships Moon Lake at the Cradle Moon Lake. The South African retained her K1 title with a score of 2:00:19. Photo: @CanoeingSA on Twitter
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