By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Olympic sprint relay silver medallist Bayanda Walaza continues to announce himself as one of the most thrilling young talents in global athletics, scorching to a personal best of 9.94 seconds in the 100m at the Boris Hanžeković Memorial in Zagreb on Saturday.
The 19-year-old flew clear of the field from halfway. With his head going forward and back in trademark ungainly fashion, Walaza charged all the way to the line, five-hundredths outside his previous personal best.
Owen Ansah of Germany was second ahead of Sweden’s Henrik Larsson with both men timed at 10.20.
Back home, Jessica Groenewald broke the national women’s record at the ASA 35km Race Walking Championships held in Cape Town.
Groenewald, representing Athletics Central North West (ACNW), went unchallenged on her way to an impressive victory in 3:10:40.
She took nearly 10 minutes off the previous SA 35km best of 3:20:25 which was set by Natalie le Roux en route to the finish at the 50km World Race Walking Championships in Taicang in 2018.
Nthatisi Mokhele won a closely contested battle for the silver medal in Cape Town, taking second place for Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA).
Mokhele completed the race in 3:56:10, just one minute clear of Marizel Meintjies (ACNW) who was third in 3:57:10.
Tumisang Pule dominated the men’s race, winning gold for Athletics Gauteng North in 2:54:20, well ahead of his provincial teammate Thando Lumkwana who earned silver in 3:21:40. Cassius Matseba (CGA) grabbed bronze in 3:25:50.