Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The South African national team continued their rampant medal charge at the end of Day 3 of the CAA African Under-18 and Umder-20 Championships in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
After the evening session on Thursday, the squad had earned a total of 27 medals, including 14 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze.
In the junior men's high jump, Breyton Poole lived up to the hype as the firm favourite, with the 2917 world youth champion securing a comfortable victory.
Poole was the only athlete to clear the bar beyond 2.06m, and he went on to sail over with his second attempt at 2.18m. Taking control in some disciplines, the SA team were in superb form in the youth girls' shot put and long jump finals.
Dane Roets won gold in the shot put with a best effort of 17.33m, adding to the discus throw title she had bagged earlier in the week. Mine de Klerk also did well to earn silver with a 16.90m heave, nearly three metres clear of the rest of the field. In the long jump, Nolwazi Mashaba also grabbed her second title, adding to her triple jump gold medal.
Mashaba landed at 5.82m, just two centimetres further than compatriot Joane Gerber (5.80m) who settled for the runner-up position after the duo had been locked in a tight contest. And there was plenty to celebrate in the high hurdles finals, with the SA squad sweeping all four gold medals on offer.
Michael Schoeman took top spot on the podium in the junior men's 110m hurdles, clocking 14.00, and Reinardt Strauss won the youth event in 13.92, holding off Leonard Bangue of Cameroon by just 0.01 in a thrilling battle.
Rogail Joseph crossed the line in 13.97 to win the junior women's 100m hurdles contest, with Antoinette van der Merwe taking second place in 14.09, while Kayla van den Bergh stormed to victory in the youth girls' race in 13.50, more than half a second ahead of her nearest opponent.
“Congratulations to all athletes for going all out in their contests,” said James Baloyi, the Acting President of Athletics South Africa.
“We also applaud all medal winners, coaches and entire team management for the success of the day.”
The five-day CAA U-18 and U-20 African Championships will conclude on Saturday.
