UJ athletes hold their own at the ASA Grand Prix II
Athletes from all over Africa competed recently in the ASA Grand Prix II, held at UJ Athletics Stadium, where the home runners took several medals.
Shirley Nekhubui and Udeme Okon emerged as the only two University of Johannesburg (UJ) gold medalists amidst a field of top African athletes at the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Grand Prix II, held recently at UJ Athletics Stadium. The blazing Nekhubui swiftly claimed gold in the senior women’s 200m sprint, with a time of 22.98 seconds.
Teammates Joviale Mbisha and Chane Vermeulen followed in second and third places with times of 23.57 seconds, and 23.84 seconds respectively, adding silver and bronze to UJ’s medal tally.
Read more: UJ athletes blow the competition out of the water
Nekhubui was UJ’s highlight for the night, adding a silver medal to her collection in the women’s 400m, clocking 51.42 seconds. Okon led the charge in the senior men’s 400m, with a time of 45.27 seconds. Lythe Pillay closely followed, securing silver in 45.74 seconds.
Also read: University of Johannesburg (UJ) athlete Sabelo Dhlamini clocks fastest 400m hurdles time
In the highly anticipated senior men’s 100m, Tsebo Matsoso earned a silver medal with a time of 10.12 seconds, narrowly missing gold to Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, with a time of 10.08 seconds.
The Grand Prix II was full of crowd pulling performances, as Tshwane University of Technology’s rising star Bayanda Walaza stole the show. Walaza set a new South Africa U20 record, running the 200m in just 20.08 seconds. This after breaking the 100m national record, with a time of 9.99 seconds, at the Grand Prix I in Pretoria last weekend.
The Grand Prix II featured athletes from as far as Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe, among other nations.
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