Watch: 8-year wait over as South Africa secures relay bronze
Lythe Pillay, Udeme Okon, Wayde van Niekerk and Zakithi Nene delivered bronze in a nail-biting finish at the World Championships.
South Africa’s 4×400m relay team saved the nation’s blushes earlier today, breaking an eight-year podium drought at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
The Citizen reports that while the SA team came close to securing medals, with multiple athletes reaching finals, they had to wait until the last event in which the country was represented to step on the podium in the Japanese capital.
Lythe Pillay, Udeme Okon, Wayde van Niekerk and Zakithi Nene combined well to complete the four-lap race in 2:57.83.
They finished in the same official time as the United States, who took second place, with the SA quartet edged into third position by just 0.002 of a second.
In a blanket finish, pre-race favourites Botswana narrowly held on for gold in 2:57.76.
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