One of the Tuks Athletics Club’s speedsters, Gift Leotlela, notched up his first international win for the season when he won the 100 metres in Madrid in 10.15s over the weekend.

The local star athlete describes it as the confidence booster he needed.

“It was not the perfect race. I know I am capable of running faster. But taking into account that we had to contend with a headwind during the final, I am satisfied. Instead of trying to clock a fast time, I focussed on the execution of my race. There are definitely things I can still work on to gain that extra hundredth of a second,” Leotlela explained.

Italy’s Filippo Tortu was second in 10.27s and Mouhamadou Fall (France) third in 10.28s.

* Kyle Blignaut went one better on Sunday in Poland when he finished second in the shot put. He threw 20.61 metres during the Janusza Kusocinskiego Meeting. Michał Haratyk (Poland) won with a distance of 20.73m. Jakub Szyszkowski (Poland) was third throwing 19.89m.

Blignaut was third in his first two international meetings. Last week in the Czech Republic, he threw 20.66m. In his first international outing, he threw 20.54m.

The upcoming star athlete is confident of throwing further than 21 metres.

“I had good form yesterday. During the warmups, I threw a massive one. I just could not repeat the performance during the competition. But I can feel there is a big throw that waits to happen,” he said after the event.

Blignaut’s main goal for the season is to qualify for the final during the Tokyo Olympic Games. According to him, it means he will have to throw at least 21.40 metres. To him, it is a doable challenge. During the USSA Championships in Johannesburg, he set a personal best throwing 21.21 metres.

* The 19-year-old Benjamin Richardson is certainly a sprinter to watch. On Saturday, during a league meeting at Tuks, he won the 100 metres in 10.17s.

For now, he is South Africa’s fourth-fastest sprinter. Only Leotlela 9.94s, Akani Simbine 9.99s and Shaun Maswanganyi 10.04s have been faster this season. At the end of last year, Richardson’s best time was 10.31s.

The TuksSport High School learner won the 100 and 200 metres during the South African Junior Championships. He won silver in the 200 metres during the South African Senior Championships.

There is talk that he could be selected as a reserve for the 4x100m-relay team that will be competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

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