Precious Mashele. Picture: Gallo Images
While the South African team put up a fight in multiple races on Saturday, they missed out on securing the nation’s first medal at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia.
In the senior men’s 10km race, Precious Mashele produced a strong finish to take 16th position in 30:44, leading the SA squad to fifth place in the team competition. Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda secured the gold medal in 29:17.
Earlier, in the senior women’s 10km race, Cian Oldknow held on to finish 27th in 36:02, with the SA team taking seventh position.
Though Ethiopian athlete Letesenbet Gidey looked set to secure victory, she collapsed in the closing stages and Kenyan athlete Beatrice Chebet grabbed the global title in 33:48.
ALSO READ: Olympic team will be able to test themselves ahead of Paris Games
The SA team also delivered a solid performance in the 4x2km mixed relay race.
Though they showed some grit, however, they settled for fourth position.
The national quartet – Ryan Mphahlele, Prudence Sekgodiso, Tshepo Tshite and Caster Semenya – completed the race in 23:50, reaching the finish 24 seconds outside a place on the podium.
The Kenyan team – Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Mirriam Cherop, Kyumbe Munguti and Brenda Chebet – won gold in 23:14.
Meanwhile, in the U-20 men’s 8km race, Jayde Rosslee took 20th place in 26:22, and with four athletes finishing among the top 40, the national squad was fourth in the team competition.
Li-Mari Dekker ended 32nd in the U-20 women’s 6km contest in 23:51, with South Africa finishing eighth in the team competition.
