Kyle Blignaut hungry for medals after going big at Tokyo Games

After proving he could hang with the big dogs at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday, Kyle Blignaut said he would go on the hunt for medals in the build-up to the 2024 Paris Games.

Blignaut, who won the world junior title in 2018, further established himself as one of the country’s brightest track and field prospects, finishing sixth in the men’s shot put final at the Tokyo showpiece.

The 21-year-old athlete launched a 21.00m heave, clearing 21 metres for the third time in his career, in a contest won by American Ryan Crouser with a massive 23.30m Olympic record.

“A year ago I would have taken this season with open arms,” Blignaut said.

Looking ahead, he was aiming for consistency at the highest level ahead of his return to the Olympic stage in Paris in three years’ time.

“I think I’ll take about two weeks off… and then we’ll start preparations for the World Indoor Championships next year, and hopefully we’ll get close to a medal there,” he said.

“Then we have the European season and the World Championships in Eugene, and then we have the Commonwealth Games, where I definitely want to be on the podium.”

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Meanwhile, there was disappointment on the track, with the national men’s 4x100m relay team crashing out in the heats.

After winning the World Relays title earlier this year, the SA squad had been targeting the country’s first athletics medal at the Games, but they fumbled the first changeover and did not reach the finish.

Elsewhere on day 13 of the Games, long-distance swimmer Michael McGlynn finished eighth in the men’s open water marathon.

McGlynn, 21, completed the 10km race in 1:51:32.7, with Florian Wellbrock of Germany winning gold in 1:48:33.7.

On the road, race walker Wayne Snyman took 20th place in the men’s 20km event in 1:24:33.

There was no luck for veteran skateboarder Dallas Oberholzer, with the 46-year-old athlete ending 20th in the men’s park competition and missing out on the final.

And on the cycling track, David Maree finished 20th in the scratch race, 18th in the tempo race and 15th in the elimination race, before taking 19th position in the omnium points race.