Orazio Cremona made sure on the first day of the South African Athletics Championships in Stellenbosch that he again qualified for the World Championships by winning the shot put with a distance of 20.49m

Although Cremona, being the reigning African Champion, is according to the rules of IAAF, almost guaranteed to compete in Beijing he was never going to tempt fate. That is why it was important for him to prove to the decision makers of South African athletics that he is worthy of his place in the team.

“I am very relieved to have got two throws past 20.45m, which is the Qualification A standard”, Cremona said.

The Tuks high performance centre (hpc) -athlete was full of praise for the way Jaco Engelbrecht made him work for his gold medal. Cremona’s build-up to the SA’s was far from ideal. Four weeks ago, just before the Gauteng North Championships, he was plagued by a vicious stomach bug which caused a drop of quite a few kilograms in his weight and sapped his energy as well. This meant he was battling to train properly and was unable to compete.

“It was only last week that I could feel I was slowly beginning to get close to my best form again.” The first international competition of the season for Cremona will be on 24 May in Hengelo.

“My main goal this season is to finish in the top eight in the World Championships final. I really believe it is possible. I was seventh at last year’s Indoor World Championships and fourth at the Commonwealth Games.”

* Before the championships, the big question was whether Akani Simbine will become the first South African sprinter to break through the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres at sea level. Based on his performance in the semi-finals, it seemed like he had a good chance of doing so. He won in 10.20s against a headwind (1.9 metres per second). Although he won the final and was crowned South African champion, he just could not even beat his semi-final time. He won the final in 10,25s.

* Carina Horn also previously said she desperately wanted to break the South African 100m record of 11.06s this season, but unfortunately for her she could not do it in Stellenbosch. Horn easily won her semi-final in 11.45 seconds against a headwind blowing at 3 metres per second. Although she also won the title in the 100m sprint, her time in the final was only 11.40 seconds.

* Other athletes who have become national champions at the weekend’s national championships in Stellenbosch are Lebogang Shange (20km walk), LJ van Zyl (400m hurdles), Stephen Mokoka (5000m), Mpho Links (high jump), Claudia Heunis (100m hurdles), Wenda Nel (400m hurdles) and Thembi Baloyi (3000m steeplechase).