07-05-2025
SA's Olympic medal 4x100m team 'needs to step it up' at World Relays
The men's 4x100m and 4x400m teams as well as the women's 4x400m and the mixed 4x400m teams will be trying to win qualification for the world championships in Tokyo in September.
It's all or nothing for the women's and mixed outfits, but the two men's teams will have breathing room if they fail. The top 14 teams will secure berths in Japan, with the next two fastest making up the 16 teams that will do battle at the world championships.
The men's 4x100m team are the third-fastest team in the qualifying window so far, and should the two quickest, the US and Canada, be part of the 14, South Africa will be the fastest side in contention for two places.
The men's 4x400m team is fifth-fastest, behind the US, Botswana, Britain and Belgium. They would need at least three of those teams to finish in the top 14 in China to have a chance of making it to Japan.
Zenéy Geldenhuys, captain of the women's relay teams, is confident the women can make the final and challenge for silverware after they broke the national 4x400m record at Pilditch stadium in Pretoria last month, clocking 3 min 28.30 sec.
'I think when we are in a very competitive environment we will automatically go faster. [The record performance] was our first race for the year and we broke the South African record. We didn't even think we were going to do that.
