This year the Paralympics has highlighted the rise of many young talents and a few world records to add to it too!
Tokyo, Japan (27 August 2021) – South Africa continues with its back-to-back achievements in the field of sports. After the Tokyo Olympics, SA has been setting its mark at the Paralympics. With many records being made, the people of South Africa are filled with pride.
Reinhard Hamman, men’s F38 javelin thrower, came sixth with a startling throw of 52.49m, his best throw of the season so far. This had been the only event this morning. With determination, he has made up his mind to work harder in the coming years.
The saying, ‘Never judge a book by its cover’, came true when Colombia’s Jose Lemos Rivas broke boundaries in his first attempt at spear throwing, covering 60.31m; beating the world record holder, Corey Anderson from Australia, and the Paralympic record holder, Oleksandr Doroshenko from Ukraine, who received the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Hamman, the winner of the 2016 Rio Paralympics, had also participated, but he hadn’t been able to garner the success he did before due to the high level of competition in the current year. He was consistent, with throws of 51.13m, 51.48m, 50.24m, 52.24m, 52.49m and 50.78m, losing the medals by an inch.
Charl du Toit, a gold medalist from Rio 2016, men’s T37 Championship, earned himself a fifth place in the 100m race. Thankfully, his score of 11.58 was enough to secure him the last remaining qualifying spot for tonight’s final. Thus, it is safe to say; a heated competition can be expected tonight.
Friday night can expect another heated final, with two SA members being a part of it. Sheryl James knocked everyone’s breath away with her incredible performance in the race, finishing second in her 200m (T37) heat where the South African and African record was 27.73sec, with each of the two heats experiencing the Paralympic record achievement along with it.
The improvement of the athletes as the time passes is evident when James was 0.65 seconds (approx.) faster than the previous Paralympic record of 28.42, held by Lisa Macintosh from Australia.
Not only this, swimmer Christian Sadie who also set a South African and African record in qualifying sixth fastest overall can be expected in the finals on Friday night. He went through half of the men’s 200m IM (SM7) and touched the wall in 2:36.75. He missed the third position to a qualifier who was 2.40 seconds quicker than him this morning.
The third SA member to break a National and African record on Friday was Alani Ferreira, but her 5:02.42 in the women’s 400m freestyle (S13) was not sufficient for her to be a qualifier to the finals.
With all these talents ready to dive into action today night, it is evident that the spirits of the people are going to be high!