Thanks for the report on our athletes who competed in Germany on Saturday. You however failed to mention that Duane's throw of 37,64m gave him a third place in the competition - well done Duane, Zanele & Michael!
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Para-athletes shine
- Updated: June 19, 2012
Three of our Paralympic hopefuls had more good competition experience in Germany at the weekend as excitement mounts for Wednesday’s official 2012 Paralympic team announcement in Johannesburg, writes Mark Etheridge.
Field athletes Zanele Situ, Michael Louwrens and Duane Strydom were all in action at the German national championships in Berlin.
Taking part in the javelin event (F54 category), Situ took gold with a great distance of 16.34m and the next morning saw her finish fourth.
Coach Karin le Roux was with the athletes and said despite Germany experiencing hot summer weather, the competition had to be postponed.
“After Zanele had finished a storm broke and the rain came pouring down. Organisers decided to stop the competition for an hour, or until the rain stopped.
“Michael Louwrens [F34] was influenced by this as he was supposed to start his shot put event at noon but only started at 1.30pm. He ended in fourth spot with a 12.97 effort.”
The third South African in action was Duane Strydom, also in the discus event. He had a distance of 37.64m in the F36 category.
“That’s the best distance he has throw in the last two years,” said Le Roux.
“Overall it was a great competition with a lovely track and very good organisation and we also found an outstanding gym where the staff were so helpful, even with little understanding of English.”
The group stay on in Berlin for training until Thursday before they leave for France for their last competition and then head home for final preparations.
