Mapaseka Makhanya
Event: Women’s Long Distances Date of birth: 1985/04/09 Personal bests: 800m (2:03.36),...
Lebogang Shange shattered his own national record on Sunday, taking second place in the men’s 20km walk at the Oceania Race Walking Championships in Adelaide.
The 25-year-old athlete clocked 1:20:06 to chop one minute, 37 seconds off the SA mark of 1:21:43 he set when finishing 11th at last year’s IAAF World Championships in Beijing.
Compatriot Wayne Snyman also displayed fine form, on the back of a lengthy training camp in Australia, setting a personal best of 1:21:45 in eighth place.
Snyman, who broke the national 3 000m mark on the track in Brisbane two weeks ago (11:10:03), chopped nearly two minutes off his previous 20km career best set in Stellenbosch last season.
Ultra-distance specialist Marc Mundell crossed the line in 13th position in 1:27:08.
All three SA athletes have now achieved the qualifying standards for walking events at the Rio Olympics.
World Student Games champion Dane Bird-Smith of Australia won the race in 1:20:04, with World Championships bronze medallist Benjamin Thorne of Canada securing third spot behind Shange in 1:20:08.