The track and field programme at the Commonwealth Games burst into life on Monday morning, with South African athletes making their presence felt across the sprints, middle distances, and the hurdles. While the day was marked by comfortable heat victories for South Africa’s leading male sprinters, the evening session delivered a final that saw Franco le Roux narrowly miss out on a podium finish in the men’s 110m hurdles final.
Here is how Team SA’s athletes fared on Day 1 of the athletics programme:
Le Roux Claims Fourth in 110m Hurdles Final
The first men’s final involving a South African Athlete came from Franco le Roux in the men’s 110m hurdles. Le Roux started his campaign in the morning heats, securing a spot in the evening final as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers. He clocked 13.64s (+2.9m/s) to finish fourth in Heat 2, ranking him sixth overall heading into the final.
Lining up in Lane 8 for the showpiece race under the evening lights, Le Roux reacted sharply out of the blocks (0.113s reaction time). He executed a clean race, crossing the line in 13.53s, a solid improvement on his morning time. Le Roux finished a highly respectable fourth, missing the podium by just 0.21 seconds. The bronze medal went to Cyprus’s Milan Trajkovic (13.32s), while Jamaica’s Demario Prince claimed the gold in 13.17s, and England’s Samuel Bennett secured silver (13.30s).
Nkoana and Johnson Cruise to Semis
In the men’s 100m, South Africa’s sprint duo made light work of their opening assignments. The goal for Round 1 was simple: advance to Tuesday’s semifinals without expending unnecessary energy, and both men executed perfectly.
- Bradley Nkoana: Racing in Heat 7, the young sprint star looked incredibly comfortable, easing down in the final stages to win his heat in 10.16s (Wind: +1.8). He advances to the semifinals as the 10th fastest overall qualifier.
- Cheswill Johnson: Following right after in Heat 8, Johnson matched Nkoana’s feat by taking the win in his heat. He clocked 10.21s (Wind: +0.6) to progress as the 15th fastest overall.
Both men will now reset for tomorrow’s highly anticipated semifinal showdown, where a spot in the coveted 100m final awaits.
Sekgodiso Navigates 800m Heats
Over in the women’s 800m, Prudence Sekgodiso secured her passage to Wednesday’s semifinals. Running in Heat 4, Sekgodiso finished fourth with a time of 2:03.84. While she missed out on the top-three automatic qualification, her time was quick enough to safely bump her into the next round as a “” qualifier in tough weather conditions today.
Para Athletics: James Reaches Final
The women’s T37/38 100m provided early excitement for Team SA. In the morning heats, Sheryl James recorded a season’s best (SB) of 13.94s to finish fourth in Heat 2, securing her spot in the evening final. Liezel Gouws also ran a season’s best of 14.24s in Heat 1, but finished fifth and narrowly missed out on progressing.
In the final, James lined up in Lane 8 against a stacked field. She crossed the line in 8th place with a time of 14.08s, bringing an end to a solid opening day campaign. England’s Sophie Hahn took the gold in 12.79s.
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