Bayanda Walaza and rising hurdles star, Tumi Ramokgopa, stole the show on Wednesday night,
\nwith sprint sensations setting new SA U20 records at the ASA Grand Prix 2 meeting at UJ Stadium
\nin Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
In the men’s 200m race, world junior champion Walaza stopped the clock at 20.08 seconds,
\nclipping 0.02 off the national U20 record of 20.10 set by Clarence Munyai in Tshwane in March
\n2017. He finished well clear of Lucky Moleyane who took second place in 20.36, while former
\nWorld Championships finalist Luxolo Adams grabbed third spot in 20.43.<\/p>\n
While the race was held in cold and wet conditions, Walaza was delighted with his performance,
\nwith the 19-year-old sprinter adding the 200m mark to the SA U20 100m record of 9.99 which he
\nset at the Athletics Gauteng North Championships just four days earlier.<\/p>\n
“The weather wasn’t great, but I believe when you’re fast you don’t have to complain about
\nanything,” Walaza said afterwards. “You cannot control the weather so you just have to make it
\nwork for you, rather than doubting yourself.<\/p>\n
“We were truly shocked about the sub-10 (last week) and we thought ‘let’s just see what strength
\nI have left over’. We believed the 9.99 had taken everything, so we didn’t expect me to run this
\nfast today.”<\/p>\n
Even though she didn’t win her race, 17-year-old Ramokgopa was also in record-breaking form,
\ntaking second place in the women’s 100m hurdles race in 13.22 and slicing 0.13 off the SA junior
\nrecord of 13.35 set by Taylon Bieldt in Bydgoszcz in July 2016. Up front, national senior record
\nholder Marione Fourie took the win in 12.69, setting a season’s best.<\/p>\n
“I’m overwhelmed. I’m in disbelief,” said Ramokgopa, who set a 400m hurdles personal best of
\n56.48 just hours earlier on Wednesday, in the Grand Prix pre-programme. “I knew running against
\nMarione, was going to push me to run an SA record, but I didn’t think I would run this fast. This
\nmeans a lot to break the record in my first year as a junior.”<\/p>\n
Among other highlights, world junior champion Udeme Okon won the men’s 400m race in a
\npersonal best of 45.27, holding off a challenge from Olympic semi-finalist Lythe Pillay, who took
\nthe runner-up spot in 45.74.<\/p>\n
African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya won the men’s 100m race in 10.08, while
\nKetlhobogile Haungura of Botswana took the 800m contest in 1:43.88. Twenty year-old Wernich
\nvan Rensburg triumphed in the men’s 400m hurdles race in 49.24, while Nikithemba Hani
\nproduced the highlight in the field events, landing at 8.01m to win the men’s long jump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"