Mulaudzi happy with performance in Germiston
April 07 2010 at 02:43AM Get IOL on your
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Johannesburg - World 800m champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi said his performance on Tuesday night proved that he had fully recovered from injury after clocking 1:45.41 to win his first outdoor two-lap race of the season at the sixth and final Yellow Pages Series meeting in Germiston.
Mulaudzi withdrew from the South African Athletics Championships in Durban last month with a hamstring injury, but ran solo over the last 300m on Tuesday after the pacemaker dropped out to win by more than two seconds from Botswana’s Onalenna Baloi.
Mulaudzi easily qualified for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October, bettering the A qualifying standard of 1:46.60 by 1.19 seconds.
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“After running 1 500m in Stellenbosch last week it was good to get in a fast 800m before the end of the South African season,” Mulaudzi said.
"The fact that I was able to change gears over the last 80m also gave me a boost in confidence. It showed that I’m exactly where I want to be at this stage.
“I would usually take a break now, but I took two weeks off with the injury, so I’ve had my rest and I’ll keep training for the European circuit.”
Mulaudzi confirmed that his next race would be at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 14.
One-lap sprinter Ofentse Mogawana and three times African hammer throw champion Chris Harmse also reached the Commonwealth qualifying standards for the first time this season.
Mogawana was pushed all the way to the line by Botswana’s Sakaria Kamberuka, winning the men’s 400m in 45.51 to dip 0.27 seconds under the mark. Kamberuka placed second in 45.71.
Harmse won his event by more than 11m from Kristiaan Bekker, bettering the qualifying standard by exactly one metre.
National champion Cornel Fredericks sealed a superb victory in the men’s 400m hurdles in 49.12, improving his personal best by 0.58 seconds, with Wouter le Roux taking second in 49.83.
Janice Josephs enjoyed a return to form in the women’s long jump, improving her season’s best by 28cm to win with a best effort of 6.49m, falling only 5cm short of the Commonwealth qualifying standard.
Simon Magakwe and Cindy Stewart both secured doubles over 100m and 200m.
Magakwe narrowly missed the Commonwealth qualifier in both sprints, winning a battle against Leigh Julius. He took victory over 100m in 10.26, missing the standard by 0.01 seconds to pip Julius (10.29) at the line. And he returned 90 minutes later to secure victory over 200m, this time missing the standard by 0.02 seconds with Julius again narrowly beaten (20.71).
Stewart had an easier time of it, winning the shortest track event in 11.71, beating Carina Horn by 0.11 seconds, and taking the 200m in 24.07, with Horn again placing second in 24.31.
A total of 18 South African athletes have already qualified for the Commonwealth Games, although javelin thrower Robert Oosthuizen is out for the rest of the season after undergoing a groin operation. Khotso Mokoena has not yet reached the standard in the men’s long jump but qualifies by virtue of his silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in Doha last month. - Sapa