Lowveld school rivals set for titantic clash in Interprimary at Hoërskool Nelspruit
Over 3 000 athletes, officials and spectators will attend the 2024 Interprimary in Mbombela.
One of the highlights of the Lowveld primary schools’ sports calendar, the annual Goldwagen Interprimary Athletics Meeting, will take place at Hoërskool Nelspruit on Saturday February 17.
Laerskool Nelspruit is the host school and Laerskool Barberton, Laerskool Bergland, Nelspruit Primary School, Laerskool Laeveld, Laerskool Witrivier and Laerskool Lydenburg will also compete.
The 2024 Interprimary is even more anticipated than previous years because last year’s meeting, hosted by Nelspruit Primary, was cut short due to persistent rain. Only 24 of the 86 events took place in 2023.
The weather is predicted to put on a gold-medal winning display on Saturday. The maximum is 33°C with a mild breeze from the east-north-east, and a slight chance of rain in the evening after the meet has concluded.
Saturday will start with the cheerleaders’ entrance at 06:50. Each school’s entrance would have been practised to perfection
over the past few weeks and remains top secret until it is witnessed by them 2 000-plus spectators.
This will be followed by the teams’ parade, with the boys and girls proudly sporting their schools’ colours.
The first athletics event will be the girls U13 1 500m, with the starter’s pistol firing promptly at 08:00.
A further 86 track and field events will follow.
The two longest-standing Goldwagen Interprimary records were both set in 1990, 34 years ago. Benjamin Richardson of Nelspruit Primary set a record of 10.80 seconds in the boys’ U11 80m, and Stephan Venter of Laerskool Barberton froze the stopwatch on 11.50 seconds in the boys’ U9 80m that year. On Saturday, the boys U11 80m takes place at 11:28, and the boys U9 80m at 12:34.
The final two blocks, starting at 15:30, traditionally draw the loudest noise from the spectators and spirit teams. The relay races, from U8 to U13, will see the various schools’ four-athlete teams put weeks of practice into execution. A split second lost at a changeover can mean the difference between gold and silver. The relay is an event in which first and seventh place can be separated by less than two seconds.
The prize-giving will be at 15:45, just before the senior relays commence.
The athletics events will conclude with the traditional staff relays at 16:15.
For the full program, click here: Interprimary Programme 2024
