Bayanda Walaza displays his silver medal from the Paris Olympics, on his return to Curro Hazeldean High School Bayanda Walaza will still be on a high after he claimed a silver medal at the Paris Olympics as part of the South African men’s 4x100m relay team. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL Sport
Olympic silver medalist Bayanda Walaza will headline the Curro Podium Athletics North meeting on September 18 at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria.
Walaza will still be on a high after he claimed a silver medal at the Paris Olympics as part of the South African men’s 4x100m relay team. He added two gold medals at the recent World Under-20 Track and Field Championships in Lima, Peru, where he won the 100m and 200m titles.
Adding more spice to the event are another two World Championship participants, Tumi Ramokgopa from Prestige College, a semi-finalist in the 400m hurdles who enters the girls’ Under-17 100m and 400m hurdles and Tuks Sport School’s Njabulo Mabatha, fourth in the 400m hurdles who looks for glory in the boys’ U17 400m hurdles.
“Our goal is to create opportunities and develop future stars in sport. The Curro Podium Series is a world-class event that provides a breeding ground for future Olympic stars,” said Cindy van der Merwe, Portfolio Manager at Curro Sport.
“Many more competitors at our events have gone on to compete in the World U20 Championships such as Timeke-Jade Coetzee, Temoso Masikane, Kailje Botje and Chane Vermeulen to name a few.”
The 100m champ becomes the 200m champ ‼️
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 31, 2024
🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦's Bayanda Walaza is the sprint king of Lima 👑#WorldAthleticsU20 pic.twitter.com/0fw3txwkHW
The quality of young athletes on show, who represent eight different athletic bodies from Central Northwest and the Free State to the Vaal Triangle and Limpopo among others, is of the highest caliber.
“Indeed, we are pleased to see other schools now elevating their athletics programmes in light of the opportunities available and dreams that can come to fruition,” said van der Merwe.
Besides the recent World Under-20 heroes, other young stars who will be competing include Christi Loggenberg (15) from Afrikaans Hoër Meisies, the SA Under-16 and Under-18 400m champion; Curro Hazeldean’s Tiisetso Malungane (14), the SA Cross Country champion in his age group this year and a SA Under-16 1500M silver medalist; Realeboga Smith (18) from Curro Hazeldean, a member of the 2024 SA Cross Country team participating at the World Champs in Serbia and Rachel Schultz (17) from Menlopark Hoërskool, the SA Under-18 800M champion.
Athletes will compete for individual and team honours in 24 events, covering multiple track and field challenges.
In October, the Curro Podium Athletics South meeting will be held in the Western Cape. The winners will join their northern counterparts to compete in the national final in February next year.
Tickets for the Northern meeting will be available at the gates on the day at R60 per person. The event is from 7am to 6:30pm and will be broadcast via SuperSport Schools and the Curro Sports YouTube channel.
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