News15 Mar 2008


Watson over Mokoena - South African National Champs - DAY ONE

FacebookTwitterEmail

Keenan Watson in action at the South African Championships (© Mark Ouma)

Africa Junior Long Jump champion Keenan Watson stole the limelight on the opening day at the Yellow Pages South Africa Senior National Track and Field Championships in Stellenbosch on Friday.

On his fifth attempt, Watson’s wind assisted (+2.7) leap of 8.26m propelled him to upstage event favourite and World Indoor champion Khotso Mokoena (8.25) in the men’s Long Jump. Watson not only improved his lifetime best from 7.85m, he also qualified for the Beijing Olympics. Mokoena can take consolation from the fact that he has finally achieved the stringent Olympic A qualifier.

“I am very excited. It’s all a real surprise. This is way beyond my wildest expectations. It is a great way to start my career as a senior athlete,” says a delighted Watson.

“I am ready to compete against the big boys at my first Africa Senior Championships next month in (Addis Ababa) Ethiopia. After all it looks like my dream of competing against my idol Irving Saladino (Panama) may come sooner than I thought,” Watson revealed.
 
Competing in her backyard, Janice Joseph (6.62m) emerged a comfortable winner in the women’s Long Jump. 

“It is always a pleasant experience winning a national title. Since I am no longer competing in the Heptathlon, I am sure I can better my performance by eight centimetres to the required 6.70m Olympic qualifier. There is enough time to achieve it before the Olympic qualifying deadline,” Josephs observes.

Earlier 17-year-old Marizette Badenhorst’s effort of 51.40m in the women’s Hammer Throw was a significant improvement over her previous national junior record of 50.30m set in Potchefstroom last month. In the men’s version of the event, Chris Harmse won his 13th consecutive national hammer throw title with a throw of 75.62m. What remains for him now is to surpass the 78.50m A standard qualifier.

Other winners were Rene Kalmer (15:55.72) in the women’s 5000m, Janus Robberts (19.09) in the men’s Shot Put and Hendrik Ramaala (28:53.04) in the 10,000m. Jan Blignaut (4.80) and Deone Joubert (3.80m) prevailed in the men’s and women’s in Pole Vault respectively. 

Mark Ouma for the IAAF

Please click here for full results

Pages related to this article
DisciplinesCompetitions
Loading...