Staff Reporter.
Paarl – Benjamin Richardson and Banele Shabangu delivered breakthrough performances on Thursday as they claimed the titles of the fastest junior athletes in the country on Day 2 of the TWIZZA ASA Age Category (u16-u20) Championships 2021 at Dal Josaphat Athletics Stadium in Paarl.
Richardson charged to victory in the U20 men’s 100m final, crossing the line in 10.41 seconds, with Bradley Oliphant grabbing the silver medal in 10.51.
Though he had been competing at the national championships since he was in grade four, this was Richardson’s first medal.
“I’ve wanted this since I was a child, so finally doing it is unbelievable,” Richardson said.
Shabangu was equally impressive, despite facing a -3.2m/s headwind. She stormed to victory in the U20 women’s 100m final in 12.13 with Elke van der Westhuizen taking second place in 12.20.
“This is my first win at the SA Championships since I started sprinting,” Shabangu said. “It really feels amazing and I’m proud of myself that I managed to work to a point that I was able to achieve the goal I set.”
Among the other highlights, Renier de Villiers coasted to a convincing victory in the U20 men’s 800m final in 1:48.66, while Aiden Smith launched a heave of 19.88m to win the U20 men’s shot put title and Anje Nel clocked a quick time of 58.71 to secure gold in the U18 women’s 400m hurdles.
In perhaps the most exciting contest of the day, Sanele Zixunge snatched victory in a hard-fought U18 boys 3 000m race. He won in 8:34.12, holding off a challenge from Jayde Rosslee who finished second in 8:34.82, with the top seven athletes finishing within less than 10 seconds of the winner.
Arwen Richardson also held on to take gold in a closely contested U18 girls high jump final, sailing over the bar at 1.65m as the top six athletes all cleared the same height.
“Congratulations to the new champions, their coaches and their support staff for today’s achievements,” said Aleck Skhosana, the President of Athletics South Africa. “It was wonderfull to see all athletes competing to the bitter end in the most sporting way. The emotions expressed, perhaps captured the determinations of the day.”