Johannesburg – With only two weeks to go before the Olympic Games kick-off , some of South Africa’s most recognised athletes will be missing in action in Tokyo, Japan.
But on the flip side of the coin, new kids on the block will take the opportunity to blaze the trail and capture the imagination of the world.
Caster Semenya, Luvo Manyonga and Mzansi’s renowned walker, Lebogang Shange, are some of the country’s top performers to miss the games due to various circumstances.
In what will leave SA athletics fans disappointed, Semenya failed to accomplish the Olympic qualifying time in the women’s 5000m in Liege, Belgium.
Manyonga and Shange are barred from participating in the Games due to ill-discipline and a doping ban.
Semenya:
The sprint queen was hoping to achieve a qualifying time of 15:10 in the 5000m but could only clock 15:50:12.
Manyonga:
The long-jumper and Olympic silver medallist has really let himself and the country down with a drug addiction issue. The 30 year-old has been slapped with a four-year ban.
Shange:
In 2019, the International Association of Athletics Federations’ Athletics Integrity Unit issued Shange with a “notice of allegation”, and later confirmed she tested positive for a banned substance.
STARS TO LOOK OUT FOR:
Shawn Maswanganyi:
The Soweto-born speedster recorded his personal best in the 200m in Oregon in the US recently.
Gift Leotlela:
He will be participating in his second Olympics after he qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in the 200m race when he was still 18 years old.
He is the fastest man in the 100m this year, ahead of Akani Simbine.
Simbine clocked 9:94 at the South African University championships.
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