Cape Town - South Africa's Lebogang Shange came close to claiming a medal after finish fourth in the 20km walk at the IAAF World Championship in London on Sunday.
Shange, 27, smashed his own South African record as he crossed the finish line in a time of 1:19:18.
He was 17 seconds down and right out of the picture at the 15km checkpoint but he came all the way through to take the lead.
The South African couldn't hold on though and finished 14 seconds behind bronze medallist Caio Bonfim of Brazil (1:19:04).
Colombia's Eider Arevalo won the 20km walk title in a national record of 1:18:53 ahead of 18-year-old Sergey Shirobokov taking silver in 1:18:55.