South Africa’s 4x400m relay team set for World Indoor Championships as top seeds

(From left) South Africa’s Lythe Pillay, Zakithi Nene, Udeme Okon and Wayde Van Niekerk pose after finishing third in the men’s 4x400m relay final during the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September. South Africa’s 4x400m relay team is gearing up for the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland, next month after a last-minute request to participate was accepted. The competition will form part of their build-up for the defence of theirWorld Relayscrown in Botswana.

Athletics South Africa (ASA) had expressed interest in sending the team to take part in the indoor competition with World Athletics earlier this month. The international body approved the request, confirming the SA 4x400m team as the No. 1 seeds ahead of the showpiece from March 22 to 24.

“Yes, we are sending the 4X400m men,” ASA confirmed. “The main reason is we have a chance of winning a medal and it will also be good training in preparation for World Relays.” The onle-lap quartet of Gardeo Isaacs, Udeme Okon, Leendert KoekemoerandZakithi Nenetook gold at the World Athletics Relays in China last year. A slightly different combination – Lythe Pillay, Okon,Nene, and the legendary Wayde van Niekerk – then led SA to bronze at theWorld Championships in Tokyo– ending an eight-year medal drought at the showpiece.

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The 4X100m men’s relay team also won gold in China, and they are the reigning Olympic silver medallists. All six one-lap sprinters have been included in a training squad that ASA announced for theWorld Relays,alongsideTumisang Shezi, Mthi Mthimkulu, and Antonie Matthys Nortje.The athletics federartion is yet to announce the final squad for the trip to Poland, however. Tumisang Shezi, Mthi Mthimkulu, and Antonie Matthys Nortje.

The athletics federartion is yet to announce the final squad for the trip to Poland, however. Nene was asked last week if he felt that the recent relay successes had led to an increased focus on the discipline. “There definitley is the buy-in of our national federation, but more so I think it was the buy-in of the athletes that we’ve wanted for a number of years,” he toldIndependend Media Sportat a training session in Durban. “I’ve always thought and always been a strong advocate for relays.

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