By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@WorldAthletics.
The South African sprinting sensation Bayanda Walaza added a win in the men’s 200m to his title in the 100m from earlier in the week in Lima, Peru.
Walaza clocked 20.52 (-0.7m/s).
Australia’s Gout Gout did make a gallant effort to close the gap and his hard-charging finish earned him the silver in a PB of 20.60. Jake Odey-Jordan of Great Britain took the bronze in 20.81.
Walaza formed part of South Africa’s silver medal-winning 4x100m team at the Olympics in Paris and two other Olympians were expected to vie for the title in the women’s 200m, with Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands and Torrie Lewis of Australia bringing to Lima their experience from the 200m semifinals in Paris. In the end, it was Hodge who took the title in 22.74 (0.0m/s), upgrading her silver medal from the 100m earlier in these championships.
Walaza is the only fourth man to achieve this double after Nigerian Francis Obikwelu at Sydney 1996 and Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago at Seoul 1992.
In other action Temoso Masikane had to settle for fourth in the men’s long jump, landing on 7.74m to miss the podium by 6cm.
South Africa had three gold, one silver and a bronze to lie fourth on the medals table going into the final day on Saturday, when they will have a few more pushes for silverware.