UJ athletics team shines

University of Johannesburg (UJ) athletes were honoured at the UJ Sports Awards gala dinner at the Johannesburg Country Club.

Rio 2016 Olympics athletes, Ruswahl Samaai and Lynique Prinsloo of UJ were named sportsman and sportswoman of the year, respectively. At the Olympics, Samaai came ninth in the men’s long jump with a 7.97m leap, while Prinsloo finished 33rd in the women’s event with a 6.10m jump.

Manager of the athletics club at UJ, Roger Haitengi said it had been a great year for the athletics team and all the athletes did well, with five athletes competing in the Olympics.

“Ruswahl and Lynique deserved the awards they received, they both had a great year. They have performed their best throughout the programme and also competed well, internationally. One of our highlights of the year was winning the Varsity Cup against other good universities around the country. It was a big achievement for the athletes, coaches and the university,” said Haitengi.

He attributes the UJ athletics team’s great season to the athletes constantly training and the coaches working hard to get them to perform at their best.

Haitengi added that on 10 December selected athletes would compete in the University Sports South Africa Road Race and Walking Championship. For the 20km and 21km events, eight athletes will represent UJ.

“Next year, we aim to regain all our titles, grow the club, get better and compete in more international competitions,” concluded Haitengi.