Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (RSA) comes with a late run in Monaco (© AFP / Getty Images)
Elite campaigners like African champion Louis van Zyl (400m hurdles, Olympic medallist Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (800m) and former New York Marathon champion Hendrik Ramaala head the Athletics South Africa squad for the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka, Japan (25 Aug to 2 Sep).
The South African sprint relay squad will be on a mission in Osaka. Last year they were awarded 2001 Edmonton World Championships 4x100m relay gold following the disqualification of the United States. This time the South Africans are settling for nothing less than a medal the normal way.
In a team balanced with a mixture of experience and youth, sprinter Constance Mkenku is among a crop of promising young talent South Africa is sending to the World Athletics Championships in Osaka Japan.
She is the most decorated athlete from the just-concluded Africa Junior Championship in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso where she amassed three gold medals. Besides the individual 100m and 200m, she anchored South Africa victorious 4x100m relay.
Prior to Ouagadougou, Mkenku stamped her authority at the All Africa Games in the Algerian capital where she clocked a career best of 11.27 in the 100m to claim a silver medal.
Despite all this success Mkenku flies out to Osaka with modest ambitions. “I will be facing the best in the world and my primary objective is to lower my 100m personal best (11.27),” said the 18-year-old teenager.
“I will not be a junior for ever so I might as well begin to face stiffer challenge now when there is not pressure on me. I also hope to make new friends from other parts of the world.”
Elsewhere the soft-spoken Kagiso Kumbane will begin his career against senior athletes. He goes to Osaka with a respectable pedigree having bagged African Junior bronze medals in 100m and 200m and a gold medal in the 4x100m.
Mark Ouma for the IAAF
The full Osaka squad consists of
Men
Sherwin Vries (100m, 4x100m),
Kagisho Kumbane (4x100m),
Leigh Julius (4x100m)
Snyman Prinsloo (4x100m).
Morne Nagel (200m, 4X100m),
Christiaan Krone (200m, 4X100m),
Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (800m),
Hendrick Ramaala (Marathon),
Norman Dlomo (Marathon),
George Mofokeng (Marathon),
Bethuel Netshifhefhe (Marathon),
Zongamele Dyubeni (Marathon),
Ruben Ramolefi (3000m Steeplechase),
Shaun Bownes (110m Hurldes),
Alwyn Myburgh (400m Hurdles),
Pieter de Villiers (400m Hurdles),
Louis van Zyl (400m Hurldes)
Khotso Mokoena (Long Jump),
Robert Oosthuizen (Javelin Throw),
Gerhardus Pienaar (Javelin Throw),
Chris Harmse (Hammer Throw),
Women
Constance Mkenku (100m)
Geraldine Pillay (200m)
Poppy Mlambo (Marathon)
Tanith Maxwell (Marathon)
Tebogo Masehla (3000m Steeplechase)
Janice Josephs (Long Jump)
Karin Mey (Long Jump)
