A group of four SA athletes will sharpen up for the Rio Olympics, three weeks ahead of the track and field competition at the Games, when they turn out at the two-day Diamond League meeting in London on Friday and Saturday.
Wenda Nel, who retained her African women’s 400m hurdles title in Durban last month, is the only South African in the programme on Friday night.
She faces a line-up which includes Americans Dalilah Muhammad and Shamier Little, the silver medallists at the last two editions of the World Championships, and Danish athlete Sara Petersen, who won the European title in Amsterdam earlier this month.
On Saturday, resurgent former Commonwealth Games champion LJ van Zyl will compete in the men’s 400m hurdles contest.
Five of the nine men in the race have run under 48 seconds in their careers, with Michael Tinsley of the United States and Javier Culson of Puerto Rico, the silver and bronze medallists at the 2012 London Olympics, and Tinsley’s compatriot Kerron Clement, who won gold at the 2008 Beijing Games, gearing up for a hard-fought battle.
National women’s 100m record holder Carina Horn will compete in the short dash, with the programme including heats and a final.
The field for the opening round will be spearheaded by Jamaican star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, who has won five world and Olympic 100m titles in the last eight years.
Former SA 5 000m record holder Stephen Mokoka will race over 12-and-a-half laps, in a contest which features world and Olympic champion Mo Farah of Great Britain, American veteran Bernard Lagat, and speedy Kenyans Edwin Soi and Isiah Koech, who have both dipped under 2:52.00 in their careers.
Schedule of SA athletes competing at the Diamond League meeting in London (22-23 July, 2016):
Friday
Women’s 400m hurdles – Wenda Nel (9.39pm)
Saturday
Men’s 400m hurdles – LJ van Zyl (4.04pm)
Women’s 100m heats – Carina Horn (4.26pm)
Women’s 100m final – Carina Horn (5.26pm)*
Men’s 5 000m – Stephen Mokoka (5.36pm)
* Horn will compete if she progresses beyond the heats
** The meeting will be broadcast live on SuperSport 7, starting at 9pm on Friday night and 4pm on Saturday