Tuks schoolboy Munayi (18) qualifies for Olympic Games
The year 2016 seems to be the year in which South Africa's new generation sprinters announce themselves on the world stage.
Fast, faster, fastest. When Clarence Munyai and Gift Leatlelo from the TuksSport High School set off to challenge the stopwatch in the 100m and 200m sprints, this is usually what happens.
Therefore it should not be a surprise that the 18-year old Munyai ran a Olympic qualifying time of 20.39s last week at a University of Johannesburg a school meeting. The only local junior athlete to have run a faster time was Rian Dempers (20.16s in 1995).
His friend and ‘rival’, Leatlelo, won the u.18, 100 metres race in 10.24s, missing the Olympic qualification by merely 0.08 seconds.
At the Youth Commonwealth Games in Samoa last year, Leotlela won the short sprint in a time of 10.20s.
Hennie Kriel (Tuks/hpc), who coaches both of them, confidently predicts this was only the beginning for his two athletes.
“Both of them are capable of running faster times and it will not be long before they do so.”
Munyani admits that his winning time in the 200 metres was a slight surprise. His previous best was 20.77s.
“When I was leading the race I realized it was going to be fast because Gift is in good form and he was pushing hard. However, I honestly did not expect to run 20.39s. I expected my time to be about 20.60s.
“Running a good bend was the key to my success. I fully realize any 200m race is won or lost around the bend.”
“Qualifying for the Olympic Games was not my goal in this race. At the moment I am focussed on competing at the IAAF Under-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. If I can win a medal there, it will be mission accomplished,” said Munyai.
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