Latest news with #WorldAthleticsRelays2025
IOL News
17-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
The rise of Leendert Koekemoer: A new star is born in South African athletics
Leendert Koekemoer The 4x400m relay team in China, from left, Lythe Pillay, Gardeo Isaacs, Udeme Okon, Leendert Koekemoer, Mthi Mthimkulu and Zakithi Nene were given a warm welcome home in Johannesburg. Photo: CECILIA VAN BERS Image: CECILIA VAN BERS Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them, according to William Shakespeare. South Africa's latest one-lap sensation, Leendert Koekemoer, falls into the latter category. And those marvelling at his achievements in helping South Africa to gold in the 4x400m at the Athletics World Relays in Guangzhou, China last weekend can scarcely believe that he is still only 17. But while their endorsement will mean a lot, there is one person who had a front-row seat to the young sprinter's historic achievement, and has been added to a growing list of admirers. The plaudits were already assured for established 400m star Zakithe Nene, when he collected the baton from the teenager on the anchor leg and stormed to gold in a world lead 2:57.50, trimming 0.62 seconds off the national record. However, the Olympic semi-finalist and Diamond League race winner has admitted that the hard graft was left to the two youngest members of the squad, matric pupils Udeme Okon and Koekemoer. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Gold medallists Gardeo Isaacs, Zakithi Nene, Leendert Koekemoer and Udeme Okon celebrate with teammates after finishing third in the men's 4x400m relay final at the World Athletics Relays 2025 in Guangdong Olympic Stadium, Guangzhou, China. Image: Wang Zhao / AFP 'I did run the anchor leg, but I feel like my teammates made the job so much easier for me,' Nene said on the triumphant team's return to South Africa this week. 'We had a nice blend of youth and experience. We gave probably the two toughest legs to the youngest athletes, Leendert Koekemoer and Udeme (Okon).' Koekemoer would have been forgiven for just going through the motions. After all, he was a late injury replacement for his training partner, Olympian Lythe Pillay. He had featured in the 4x400m mixed relay team at the World Relays. However, he showed that he is made of sterner stuff in overhauling Kabo Rankgwe of Botswana on the third leg, before giving Nene the 'easy' task of taking the team home. The SA Under-20 record holder over the distance registered an incredibly impressive split time of 44.23, especially for someone who had struggled to break through the 46-second barrier until this year. A torn hamstring also restricted the Helpmekaar Kollege, Johannesburg pupil to one race last year. World Under-20 champion Okon's split time was an equally impressive 44.24 to leave SA second at the final change-over. 'What was going through my mind was to catch that Botswana guy in front of me… I knew he blasted out superfast, so I knew that I could catch him if I just stayed patient and kicked at the right time,' the youngest member of the SA team Koekemoer said, recalling last Sunday's final. 'At the end of the day, I don't think I went out to the relay to run a fast time, necessarily. 'I think I just wanted to get the baton first to Zak (Nene). I think it was just for the team, so we could get a medal. The time came by itself.' The 17-year-old, who was taking part in his first overseas competition, struggled to explain the reason for the breakthrough performance. 'I feel like if it wasn't for my parents, my coach and my teammate Lythe Pillay pushing me at training, I wouldn't have been performing how I am performing today,' Koekemoer said. 'If it also wasn't for me pushing myself to be better every day, I feel that I wouldn't have run that time.' He also acknowledges the mental aspect of the one-lap sprint. 'The crucial thing for me this season is to keep my head in the game. I feel like the 400 is a very mental race, and you must know the lactic is going to come at the end. 'So, I think if your mind is right, you can run fast.' With the likes of Koekemoer and Okon already being world relay champions this early in their careers, and Nene, Pillay and the other established stars there to guide them, South Africa will be hard to catch for years to come. Greatness beckons!
IOL News
11-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
South Africa shines at World Athletics Relays Championship with double gold and records
2025 Gold medallists South Africa's Gardeo Isaacs, Udeme Okon, Leendert Koekemoer and Zakithi Nene celebrate with teammates after finishing third in the men's 4x400 metres relay final at the World Athletics Relays 2025 - Guangdong Olympic Stadium, Guangzhou, China. | REUTERS Image: Reuters There was double gold, and records, for South Africa at the World Athletics Relay Championship in Guangzhou, China, on Sunday after the men's 4X100m and 4X400m teams blazed to victory, while the women's 4X400m team claimed bronze. The SA men's 4x100m quartet – Bayanda Walaza, Sinesipho Dambile, Bradley Nkoana and Akani Simbine – scorched around the track in a world leading 37.61 seconds to claim gold. Walaza, the Under-20 world 100m and 200m champion, got the team off to the perfect start, while Dambile and Nkoana ensured they were in second at the final change. All eyes were then on the in-form Simbine, the fastest man over 100m this year. And the back-to-back Diamond League winner didn't disappoint. He hauled in Brandon Hicklin of the US with a burst of pace off the bend that has become his trademark, to turn Olympic silver into gold. The US were second, in 37.66, and Canada third. The SA team had set the fastest time of their first-round heat, of 37.84 seconds, and lowered that in the final. They were just 0.04 seconds outside the SA record of 37.57, which the national squad achieved when they earned silver at last year's Olympic Games in Paris. The men's 4x400m team were equally superb, with Gardeo Isaacs, Udeme Okon, Leendert Koekemoer and Zakithi Nene storming to gold in 2:57.50. They ripped 0.62 off the SA record of 2:58.12 set by Nene, Isaacs, Lythe Pillay and Antonie Nortje when they finished fifth at the Paris Olympics. Behind them, the next-best team was Belgium, who completed the four-lap in 2:58.19 to take the second spot on the podium. In the women's 4x400m final, the quartet of Shirley Nekhubui, Miranda Coetzee, Precious Molepo and Zeney Geldenhuys clocked 3:24.84 to grab the bronze medal. They shattered the national mark of 3:28.01 set by Nekhubui, Molepo, Geldenhuys and Hannah van Niekerk in the heats the day before. Ahead of them, Spain won gold in 3:24.13 and the US earned the silver medal in 3: SA mixed 4x400m team of Van Niekerk, Mthi Mthimkulu, Jada van Staden and Tumisang Shezi took fifth place in 3:16.29. All four SA squads had reached the finals of their events with solid performances in the heats on Saturday and thus qualifying automatically for the World Athletics Championships to be held in Tokyo in September.
The Star
11-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Athletics-Canada crowned inaugural mixed 4x100m relay champions
Athletics - World Athletics Relays 2025 - Guangdong Olympic Stadium, Guangzhou, China - May 11, 2025 Canada's Sade McCreath, Marie-Eloise Leclair, Duan Asemota and Eliezer Adjibi celebrate after winning the mixed 4x100 metres relay final REUTERS/Tingshu Wang GUANGZHOU (Reuters) -Canada produced a sublime display in ideal sprinting conditions to outclass Jamaica and Britain en route to the inaugural mixed 4x100 metres relay gold on the final day of the World Athletics Relays on Sunday. After setting the pace during the heats on a soggy Saturday in Guangzhou, where the event made its debut on the global stage, the Canadian quartet powered out of the blocks in the final and crossed the finish line in a season's best 40.30 seconds. Strong runs by Sade McCreath, Marie-Eloise Leclair and Duan Asemota set up anchor Eliezer Adjibi to show his explosive pace in the final stretch, ensuring Canada left the southern Chinese city with the fastest time over two days of competition. "I think this is a test and it shows how hard we work," an elated Asemota said. "We had been to the relay camp, we all sacrificed so many weeks of the year to get this relay right. We showed it on the track and with this medal. We did it." With pre-event favourites the United States absent from the final after fumbling their baton exchange in the heats, Jamaica took second in 40.44 seconds while Britain were third ahead of Australia, Italy and France, in 40.88 seconds. The Americans defended their mixed 4x400m title and put down a marker before the world championships in Tokyo in September by winning with a championship-record time of 3:09.54, finishing in front of Australia and Kenya. Akani Simbine came up with a late burst of speed to anchor South Africa to victory in the men's 4x100m event, ensuring his team edged out the U.S. and Canada with a world-leading effort of 37.61 seconds. There was more drama earlier as Jamaica's men's 4x100m team failed to book a place in Tokyo when a hamstring injury to Julian Forte in their second qualifying attempt proved costly, after they botched their baton exchange during Saturday's heat. It was smooth sailing for a relatively inexperienced British team with Nia Wedderburn-Goodison, Amy Hunt, Bianca Williams and Success Eduan staving off Jamaica and the U.S to win the women's 4x100m race in 42.21 seconds, ahead of surprise package Spain who took second. The Spanish 4x400m women's team stunned defending champions and Paris gold medallists the U.S. with a time of 3:24.13, while South Africa sparkled in the men's event with a world-leading time of 2:57.50. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallo)
India Gazette
11-05-2025
- Sport
- India Gazette
Indian men's and mixed 4x400m teams fail to qualify for World Athletics Relays 2025
Guangzhou [China], May 11 (ANI): The Indian men's team as well as the mixed 4x400m team failed to qualify for the finals in their respective events at the ongoing World Athletics Relays 2025 in Guangzhou, China on Saturday, according to Both teams finished fifth in their respective heats, missing out on a chance to secure early qualification for the World Athletics Championships 2025, set to be held in Tokyo this September. On the opening day, quotas were on offer to the top two teams in each heat in every relay event (except the 4x100m). The two teams also made the finals and will race for World Championships lane seeding and medals on Sunday. The Indian mixed team of Jay Kumar, Sneha Kolleri, Dharmveer Choudhary and Rupal clocked 3:16.85 in Heat 3. Great Britain & Northern Ireland (3:13.28) and South Africa (3:13.79) were the top two in the group. Overall, the Indian mixed team placed 15th among 21 teams. The United States posted a world-leading time of 3:11.37 in Heat 2 to clock the best time across heats. India's national record in the mixed 4x400m team event is 3:12.87s set at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships 2024 in Panchkula. The men's team of Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan, Manu Thekkinalil Saji, Vishal Thennarasu Kayalvizhi and Mohit Kumar, meanwhile, recorded a time of 3:03.92 in Heat 4. France (3:00.30) and Kenya (3:00.88) secured qualification from the heat, while India finished 15th overall among all heats. South Africa topped the overall standings with a time of 3:00.00. India's national record in the men's 4x400m is 2:59.05, clocked at the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest. While the Indian teams missed their first opportunity to qualify, they will have a second shot on Sunday. All non-finalists will compete in additional qualifying heats, with the top two from each of the three groups securing World Championships berths. In case they fail to secure Tokyo 25 spots from Guangzhou, India can also qualify based on their position in the top performance lists during the qualification window, which runs from February 25, 2024, to August 24, 2025. Only two teams from the top lists from each event will make the cut. Olympians Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan, who are part of the Indian relay squad, did not feature on Saturday. (ANI)
India Gazette
10-05-2025
- Sport
- India Gazette
14 Indian athletes to participate in World Athletics Relays 2025
New Delhi [India] May 10 (ANI): India will send a team of 14 athletes to participate in the World Athletics Relays 2025, which will take place in Guangzhou, China, on May 10 and 11, as per website. This year's event at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium will include six relay categories: men's 4x400m, men's 4x100m, women's 4x400m, and women's 4x100m, as well as mixed relays for both 4x400m and 4x100m. This will be the seventh edition of the World Athletics Relays, and it will be the first time the event will be held in China. For the first time, the mixed 4x100m relay will be featured at the World Relays. Additionally, India will only participate in the men's and mixed 4x400m races. Guangzhou 25 also serves as a qualifying event for the World Athletics Championships 2025, which is set to occur in Tokyo this September. A total of 730 competitors from 43 different nations will take part in the World Relays. Each country can submit one team for each event, with a limit of eight athletes per team. The first 14 teams in each category, excluding the mixed 4x100m, will secure automatic spots for the Tokyo 25 World Championships, where 16 teams will compete in each relay. The final two slots will be assigned according to the most impressive results achieved throughout the qualification phase, which occurred from February 25, 2024, to August 24, 2025. The Indian men's 4x400m team will be led by the top five competitors from the Federation Cup 2025 held in Kochi: TK Vishal, Jay Kumar, TS Manu, Dharamveer Choudhary, and Rince Joseph. Olympic athletes Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan are the standout athletes in the mixed 4x400m relay team. Olympians Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan headline the mixed 4x400m relay squad. Indian squad at the World Relays 2025 Men's 4x400m: Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan, Dharamveer Choudhary, Rince Joseph, Tushar Kanti, Jay Kumar, Mohit Kumar, TS Manu and TK Vishal. Mixed 4x400m: Amoj Jacob, Dharamveer Choudhary, TK Vishal, Sneha Kolleri, Jisna Mathew, Rupal, Subha Venkatesan. (ANI)
