News10 Apr 2003


Final leg of South African series on Friday

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Jacques Freitag in action (© Getty Images)

As the curtain comes down on the Engen Summer Series in South Africa's Indian Ocean port city of eThekwini on Friday, the Africa high jump record holder Jacques Freitag (South Africa) returns to competition.

The choice of venue for his comeback, brings back nostalgic memories. It was at the same Kings Park Athletics Stadium where he set an Africa record for the third time in less than two months last year. In rapid succession, Freitag improved the Africa record from 2.32 to 2.37 metres.

However this success came at a cost. Freitag suffered a career threatening injury. He has been out of action for over ten months following corrective surgery to reconstruct the ligament in the right ankle, in his take-off leg.   

"Naturally Jacques is an confident athlete. However we are going to take one step at a time", cautioned his manager Piet va Zyl. "He recently underwent another bone scan that the doctor made a prerequisite before he could resume training.

"Jacques has cleared 2.20 metres with a short run up. We hope that he will make a decent start to the season," says van Zyl.

A focal point of excitement is expected to come in the 1000m where South Africa's Commonwealth Games 800m Champion Mbualeni Mulaudzi seeks to prevail over an army of Kenyans that includes William Yampoi, Joseph Mutua, Evan Ndungu and Justine Koech.
 
"That Kenyans are good at teamwork in wearing down rivals does not bother me. I will run my own race. My main objective is to improve my personal best ( 2:18.45) which I set in Roodepoort two weeks ago," says Mulaudzi. 

"I am no longer under pressure after winning the 800 metres in Roodepoort. The race will give me an opportunity to prove that the victory was not a fluke," say Mutua who fizzled at last week's race in Pretoria.

Namibian Frank Fredericks is expected to come up against stiff resistance from local boys Sherwin Vries, Morne Nagel, Mathew Quinn, and Burkina Faso's Idriss Sanou in the 100m. Clearly determined to salvage some pride after being overshadowed by Shaun Crawford last week, Fredericks could clock his first sub 10 seconds of the year.

The Bahamas Chris Brown is upbeat in the 400 metres. "A huge vacuum exists in the 400 metres after Michael Johnson retired. This year I want to position myself among the leading lights in the event. This inspires me to complete this series undefeated," said Brown. 

The men's 3000m steeplechase is expected to be keenly contested as a new generation of athletes edge closer to the South African record of 8:19. A month ago, Alexander Motone (8:29.39), Sivuyile Dlongwana (8:29.54), Antony Godongwana (8:42.86), Mandla Maseko (8:43.26), Danny Nkwanyana (8:47:32) set career best in Port Elizabeth.

Since then their confidence has soared. "I went to Addis Ababa for a cross country meeting where I had my first experience running against Ethiopians at home. We then competed again with them and the Kenyans at the recent World Cross country Championships in Switzerland. This has opened a whole new perspective to running the steeplechase. Gone are the days of holding back and surging in the last lap of the race," says Motone.

South Africa is also experiencing a resurgence of excellence in the men's 1500m. Juan van Deventer, Graham Davidson, and Johan Pretorius, who thrilled fans a month ago in Port Elizabeth, en route to running career bests in under 3:39.2, renew acquaintance.

Adding spice to the race is Johan Cronje who won the 1000m in a personal best of 2:19:54 in Pretoria last week. He aims to improve his career best of 3:37.28 he ran in Doha, Qatar last year.

Davidson appears to have the edge in basic speed after setting a career best of 1:46.06 in the 800 metres in Pretoria last Friday. However, the South Africans should be wary of Ireland's James Nolan. The Irishman put up a huge fight before finishing a close second to Cronje last week.

 

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