By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@GalloImages.
The South African men’s 4 x 400m relay team was thrown a major lifeline after not being able to qualify automatically after they finished sixth in their Heat on Friday.
Team SA entered the relay with a strong line-up featuring Gardeo Isaacs, Zakithi Nene, Antonie Nortje, and Lythe Pillay, and would have been confident of advancing to the final.
Nigeria, who finished second in the Heat was disqualified by the referee for a lane infringement. This comes after Nortjé had a tumble in the third leg of the relay.
When Pillay got the baton in the last leg, South Africa were already well off the pace, and ended up last in their heat. The team finished in a time of 3:03.19.
Botswana were the fastest qualifiers for the final after running a season’s best 2:75.76 in Heat 1, while France was the fastest in Heat 2 with 2:59.53. The 4 x 400m final at Stade de France will take place at 21:00 tonight.
Meanwhile, in other events during the morning session on Friday, middle-distance runner Edmund du Plessis settled for fourth place in his 800m semifinal in 1:45.34, and he missed out on a place in the final.
In the women’s 100m hurdles semifinals, national record holder Marione Fourie finished sixth in her race in 13.01 and she was also eliminated ahead of the final in her specialist discipline.