A national squad of 29 athletes, including five from Athletics Central North West (ACNW), will represent South Africa at the IAAF World Athletics Championships.  This amidst consternation and confusion in the buildup to Athletics South Africa’s (ASA) squad selection for these prestigious championships in London from 4 to 13 August.

The front runners such as Caster Semenya easily made the IAAF and ASA’s ridiculously lofty qualifying standards but other athletes struggled to reach the standards set by ASA. Eventually, through the IAAF investigations, ASA revised the number of athletes going to the championships.

ACNW 400-metre athlete, Ariane Nel, for one, did not make the provisional squad, only to be included at a later stage, much to her bewilderment in the beginning and delight in the end.

The ACNW athletes competing in London are Caster Semenya, Pieter Conradie, Ariane Nel, Gena Lofstrand and Sunette Viljoen. Terseus Liebenberg, the NWU-Pukke athletics manager and Viljoen’s coach, will also showcase his coaching expertise and experience in London.