Spectacular athletics – First of kind for City of Stars

International sprinters and middle-distance runners are expected to flock to the City of Stars when Polokwane will host for the first time the fourth and final leg of the Athletics South Africa (Asa) Night Series at the old Peter Mokaba Stadium on 24 May.
Adding to the achievement of Polokwane being selected to host such a major event for the first time in history, the country’s top athletes will have a rare opportunity to participate in this international relay meeting on home soil while local businesses will also benefit from the approximately 352 athletes with their coaches and families expected to spend some valuable time in Limpopo.
Asa Media Relations Officer Sifiso Cele said at the first three legs of the inaugural Night Series held in Pretoria, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth numerous athletes made use of the opportunities to chase qualifying marks in individual track and field events for major championships including African Senior Championships in Durban next month, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland in July and the Olympic Games in Rio in August.
“In addition to the world-class competition on offer at the Asa Senior Championships held in Stellenbosch last month and the South African Open Championships in Bloemfontein the weekend, the final Night Series event was included in the domestic calendar specifically to give relay hopefuls a chance to achieve required standards for major events before the South African season comes to an end,” Cele said, adding that other African nations have also been invited to take part in the event.
Asa President Aleck Skhosana was quoted saying in a press release that with a number of potential relay squads displaying promise over the last couple of seasons, all efforts around the Polokwane meeting will be directed towards ensuring that quality relay races are held with elite line-ups, in order to make it possible for the athletes to run fast times.
“The final Night Series meeting will give South Africa’s one-lap sprinters another chance to secure the first of two required times, to be calculated on aggregate, for the eight remaining places available at the Rio games, which will be determined based on rankings. We have plans in place to give relay squads further international experience and opportunities, but we call on all athletes to make use of this local relay meeting,” Skhosana said.
The Asa Night Series meeting will include four 100 m and four 400 m races for men and women in the senior and junior divisions. The programme will also include a junior mixed relay, a senior women’s four times 800 m race and a senior men’s four time
1 500 m contest and scheduled to start at 18:30.
Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) Spokesperson Mike Tauatsuala said it is an honour that Polokwane and Limpopo were given the opportunity to host an event of such calibre.
“It is a definite boost to local economy as athletes and their accompanying persons will be accommodated in the city and the province. Such events are normally hosted in bigger cities but as from now Polokwane and Limpopo can prove that it has the capacity to host similar events,” Taustsuala said.

Story: RC Myburgh
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