The South African track and field team was welcomed home by fans, family and friends on Tuesday after representing the country at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan which ended on Sunday.
The relay squad consisting of Wayde van Niekerk, Zakithi Nene, Lythe Pillay, Udeme Okon, Gardeo Isaacs and Leendert Koekemoer, managed to secure South Africa’s first medal at the biennial World Championships since 2017, after they were narrowly edged out by Botswana and the United States in the final.
The most experienced member of the national squad, 32-year-old sprinter Van Niekerk, said he was delighted to have returned to the podium after finishing fourth as part of the SA men’s 4x400m relay team who earned the bronze medal. He returned home with his fourth career World Championships medal and his first in a relay after he won 400m gold in Beijing in 2015, as well as 400m gold and 200m silver in London in 2017.
“This time around I was exposed to the team element of this sport,” said the 400m world record holder, who also reached the 200m semifinals in the Japanese capital.
“The last few years I’ve really been trying to fight for fitness to get into this team and represent the country with them. We’ve been wanting this opportunity for a very long time now. It’s a pity we couldn’t come home with that silver, or even the gold medal, but it really shows the reality of where we stand as track and field at this moment. You’re standing with a solid group of individuals with so much potential and so much talent.”
Team leader, Jean Verster, said they were pleased with the overall results of the SA team, which displayed the nation’s growing depth. Aside from the bronze medal in the men’s 4x400m relay, there were seven individual athletes and one other relay team who finished in the top 10 in their events.
“Two years ago (at the 2023 World Championships) in Budapest, we had one (individual finalist), Wayde van Niekerk,” Verster said. “This year we got a bronze, we had a fourth place (Jo-Ane du Plessis), two fifths with Zakithi (Nene) and Gift (Leotlela), and athletes who finished sixth (mixed 4x400m relay), seventh (Akani Simbine), eighth (Sinesipho Dambile), ninth (Tshepo Tshite) and 10th (Adriaan Wildschutt).
“So there were a lot of positives. There are some events we definitely need to work on, but many of these athletes are youngsters and it can take two, three or even four of these championships before athletes can handle the pressure, which is immense.”
The next edition of the World Athletics Championships will be held in Beijing, China in 2027.
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