‘We must not get ahead of ourselves': SA relay coach Paul Gorries
All four of South Africa's sprint relay squads have qualified for the World Championships.
Though he was delighted with the national squad's results at the World Athletics Relays over the weekend, SA relay coach Paul Gorries has cautioned that South Africa's sprinters will need to take another step up if they want to repeat their performances at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo later this year.
In Guangzhou on Sunday, the SA men's 4x100m and 4x00m teams won gold medals, with the 4x400m squad setting a national record of 2:57.50.
And the women's 4x400m team earned bronze, also setting a national record of 3:24.84, while the mixed 4x400m quartet finished fifth in their final.
In the process, all four teams qualified for the World Athletics Championships to be held in Tokyo in September.
'I think the performances were exceptional. The first goal we set was for all four teams to qualify for the World Championships, which happened,' said Gorries, who earned 4x400m medals at the World Cup, the African Championships and the Commonwealth Games during his career as a sprinter.
Early in the international season
However, with southern hemisphere nations having already completed their domestic seasons, Gorries warned that northern hemisphere countries would peak only later this year and South Africa's relay squads needed to be on top of their game at the global championships in the Japanese capital.
'Going into Tokyo I think it will be a completely different ball game. America didn't bring in all their athletes (for the World Relays) but they will have full-strength teams (in Tokyo),' Gorries said.
'The one good thing going for us is that we've built momentum, and we need to keep that going.
'It's a good start, but we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. We need to remain focused on the job at hand, which is Tokyo, because we're coming off the South African season so a lot of our athletes are sharper, but for other athletes overseas it's really just the start of their season.
'That said, I do think in the men's 4x100m and 4x400m events in particular we have the athletes who can compete. The 4x400m women have also stepped up, so things are looking good for Tokyo.'
The SA team will return home on Wednesday from the World Athletics Relays championship.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Citizen
18 hours ago
- The Citizen
Bulls sign Bok lock
The 32-year-old previously spent time at Loftus between 2014 and 2016 before stints with the Lions, Stormers and Ospreys. DOMONT, FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 19: Marvin Orie of South Africa during the South Africa men's national rugby team training session at Stade des Fauvettes on September 19, 2023 in Domont, France. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images) The Vodacom Bulls have reportedly secured the services of a Springbok world champion and URC title-winning lock. According to Rapport, the Bulls are poised to bring lock Marvin Orie back to Pretoria as part of a sweeping recruitment drive ahead of the 2025 Currie Cup. Orie, who last played for the Boks at the 2023 World Cup, is set to join from French club Perpignan. The 32-year-old previously spent time at Loftus between 2014 and 2016 before stints with the Lions, Stormers and Ospreys. He is one of several names linked to the Bulls' squad revamp. Loose forward Jeandre Rudolph is also tipped to return to Loftus, having decided to leave the Cheetahs following their SA Cup campaign. Former Junior Bok, Western Province and Zebre lock Dylan de Leeuw (23) is reportedly another recruit who has been training with the Bulls for the past two months while recovering from injury. These additions reinforce a Bulls intake that reportedly includes the arrival of Handre Pollard, Jan Serfontein, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Paul de Wet in July. This story was first published on It is republished here with permission.
IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
Rugby World Cup 1995: Remembering the Springboks' fallen heroes
New Zealand winger Jonah Lomu is tackled by South African scrumhalf Joost Van der Westhuizen during the Rugby World Cup final in 1995. Photo: Mark Baker/Reuters GAME CHANGING MOMENT: New Zealand winger Jonah Lomu is tackled by South African scrumhalf Joost Van der Westhuizen during the Rugby World Cup final in 1995. Photo: Mark Baker/Reuters It is a tragic postscript to the monumental achievements of the 1995 Springboks that, 30 years later, there are just 10 survivors of the team that started the final against the All Blacks. The New Zealanders have also suffered a loss, with Player of the Tournament Jonah Lomu passing away in Auckland in 2015 because of kidney failure. He was 40. The list of Springboks who have died makes for a sad reading because they were household names that contributed enormously to the rich history of the game in South Africa James Small, Joost van der Westhuizen, Chester Williams, Ruben Kruger, and Hannes Strydom were hugely popular public figures and their deaths at relatively young ages remains keenly felt. The first member of the tightly-knit squad to die was Kitch Christie, the coach who engineered an 'ambulance job' by taking over the team only months before the World Cup. He succumbed to leukemia in Pretoria in 1998. He was 58. The latest squad member to perish was lock Strydom. He was in a tragic car accident two years ago. He was also 58. Strydom, a pharmacist, formed a formidable second row partnership with Transvaal teammate Kobus Wiese. The first '95 hero to pass on was the warrior flank Ruben Kruger. The tough Blue Bull scored a crucial try in the semi-final against France in monsoon conditions in Durban and to this day his teammates swear he scored in the final. Kruger seemed to have got over the line but referee Ed Morrison was unsighted and did not award it. If there had been a TMO, Kruger would have scored. Kruger blacked out during a game in 2000 and tests revealed he had a brain tumor. Surgeons removed the tumour but it resurfaced. After fighting the disease for a decade, Kruger died in January 2010 aged 39.
eNCA
2 days ago
- eNCA
Australian sprinter Kennedy tastes 100m victory in Nairobi
Australian Lachlan Kennedy produced a powerful finish to topple a strong African 100m field in a personal best 9.98sec at the Kip Keino Classic on Saturday. Kennedy, 21, came from behind to beat Bayanda Wazala of South Africa and Kenya's African 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala into second and third positions respectively in Nairobi. "As soon as I saw the 9.98 I was thrilled, the feeling was so surreal. I couldn't believe it," said an ecstatic Kennedy, who in January ran a world-leading 6.45sec in the 60m in Canberra. Kennedy is one half of an exciting duo of young Australian sprinters, led by the 17-year-old sensation Gout Gout. Walaza, 19, who will hope to make his mark for South Africa in this summer's World Championships in Tokyo, timed 10.03sec in second and said he was picking up experience all the time. "I am still getting my way into the 100m. I am learning from these people, including Akani (Simbine) and Omanyala, who are my mentors," he said. Earlier South Africa's Zakithi Nene recorded the fastest time in the world over 400m with a sparkling personal best of 43.76sec, beating Nigerian Chidi Okezi (44.89sec) into second place. The 27-year-old Nene, who previous best was 44.22sec at the South African championships in April, made up for the disappointment of finishing runner-up to American Jacory Patterson at the Rabat Diamond League last weekend. Kenyan-born Jonah Koech, competing for the United States, upstaged his former compatriots to win the 800m in a personal best 1min 43.32sec. It was Koech's second track victory in a week after his shock maiden Diamond League victory in the 1500m in Rabat. Trinidadian two-time world javelin champion Andersen Peters' hopes of winning his first Kip Keino title were shattered when he finished seventh with a disappointing 77.49m. Brazilian Luiz Mauricio da Silva dominated the event with a new personal best of 86.34m to finish ahead of Germany's former Olympic champion Thomas Rohler (80.79).
