Logo

News04 Aug 1999


The sky's the limit for young Hestrie 

FacebookTwitterEmail

The sky's the limit for young Hestrie 

5 August 1999 - Monte Carlo – After her extraordinary performance last night in Monaco’s Stade Louis II, 20 year-old Hestrie Storbeck-Cloete has emerged as South Africa’s leading contender for gold in Seville later this month.

The tall (1.88 metres) resident of Germiston set a new personal best of 2.04 in the high jump on her first attempt to beat a top field including the previous world leader Monica Iagar-Dinescu (2.01) at the IAAF Golden League Meeting.

Storbeck-Cloete – the world’s best junior in 1997 – appears to be peaking perfectly for Seville whereas rivals like Iagar-Dinescu (ROM), Yelena Yelesina (RUS) and Tisha Waller (USA) are jumping worse now than in early season.

The young South African, who makes a dramatic double arm gesture during her approach to the bar, is noted as a fine technician who can place her centre of mass directly over her take-off foot at the crucial moment of impulse. Last year, despite jumping from a shortened six-step approach, Storbeck-Cloete set an African record of 1.96 and was crowned as Commonwealth champion.

But no-one could have expected her to improve so much and emerge as a leading contender for gold in Seville ahead of outstanding compatriots like javelin world champion Marius Corbett, 400m hurdles world silver medallist Llewelyn Herbert, 800m world indoor champion Johan Botha and 800m Olympic silver medallist Hezekiel Sepeng.

Storbeck-Cloete’s 21st birthday is on August 26 but any celebrations in Seville will have to be restrained - the women’s high jump qualifying takes place the following day. Yet all South Africa will be putting the champagne on ice in the hope that young Hestrie can fulfil all her promise in the final.

Pages related to this article
DisciplinesCompetitions
Loading...