Cream of top athletes to take part in championships
Garden Route Reporter
SOUTH Africa’s top middle distance athlete, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, will be the main attraction at the fifth ASA Champion Challenge meeting at Oudtshoorn tomorrow when he lines up in the 800m event.
The big athletics event is expected to draw thousands of spectators to support the cream of the country’s track and field talent at Oudtshoorn’s De Jager Stadium on the eve of the Commonwealth Games.
Mulaudzi, who will be defending his world indoor 800m title at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Moscow next month, will use this race as preparation for the world event and a fast time can be expected from him.
He will line up against his training partners, Werner Botha, Christo Boshoff, as well as Boland’s Charles Jantjies.
The sprint events for men will also be a highlight of the meeting.
In the 100m, Eastern Province’s Leigh Julius and Sherwin Vries will do battle, and on the fast track a good time can be expected. Corne du Plessis and Lee Roy Newton will test these two in the 100m while Julius, Sergio Mullins and Newton can produce something special in the 200m.
Ruben Ramolefi will be in action in the 3 000m steeplechase against his Commonwealth Games team-mate Emmanuel Mkhabela.
Britain’s Adam Bowden will also line up in this race.
Jacques Freitag who last year set his new SA record in the high jump at the meeting, will be in action after a lay-off through injury and his performance will be closely watched.
Among the women’s events Geraldine Pillay will turn out in both the 100m and 200m and her performance in Bellville last week in windy conditions suggests that she can also turn in fast times.
The meeting starts at 2pm.