Central Gauteng Athletics selected a strong team which represented the province very well from the 30 March to 1 April 2023 at the National Senior Championships held in Potchefstroom. The team bagged a total of 22 Medals with 6 gold, 11 silver and 5 bronze medals.
CGA athletes as actual delivered exceptional performances throughout the championships with a highlight by Leandri Geel who was crowned National Champion in the Senior Women Hammer and bettered the SA record in the same event. Leandri throw a distance of 65.18 to achieve the SA record. “I was actually shocked by the distance as I have never thrown a 65.18, I am very thrilled and glad as this was a very tight competition, but I was able to secure a Gold medal for the province, Geel indicated in a post event interview.
Central Gauteng Athletics top sprinters who are regarded as the fastest man and woman in South Africa, Akani Simbine and Carina Horn also pulled a showstopper in the 100m events. Great performances were anticipated from the athletes and indeed they delivered as expected being crowned national champions clocking the finish line 10.14 and 11.52 respectively. In a post event interview Carina said “she indicated that she was happy with the win and defending her national title. This performance will be a start for her European season to prepare her for the World Championships later this year.”
“We are happy to take the double again this year at the National Championships said the coach of the dual gold medalist, Coach Werner Prinsloo. He also added that he is very happy with Akani’s times as It’s a good sign that we’re on the right path for a good season in Europe. For Carina it means she needs to put in a few more races to get in shape. But we are confident she will get there’’. Another exciting sprint event has to be the 400m where we saw World Junior Champion Lythe Pillay face off with World 400m record holder Wayde van Niekerk to achieve his new personal best settling for a silver medal in the time 0:44.80.
We also witnessed a great show delivered by CGA athletes in the Men 5000m event with Team CGA dominating and taking a gold and silver medal. Maxime Chaumeton crowned national 5000m champion clocking 13:46.40 and Ryan Mphahlele winning a silver medal for the province in the time 14:04.80. Another proud moment for the province in the middle-distance events was the 10000m event where the 2022 National 10km Champion Andries Sesedi cruising to the finish line to claim his gold medal on the national podium.
CGA would like to congratulate all athletes who represented the province with great pride at the National Senior Championships said the CGA President Steven Khanyile who was in attendance at the championships witnessing our athletes flying the provincial flag high. He also congratulated Leandri Geel for her new SA record and all the medal winners including the support of coaches and team management.