SA track and field team grows ahead of Commonwealth Games

Seven athletes have been added to South Africa’s preliminary team for next year’s Commonwealth Games, lifting the size of the squad to 23 individuals.

While Athletics SA (ASA) confirmed on Thursday it would submit the provisional squad to national Olympic body Sascoc in the first week of January, individuals could be added to the team ahead of the final announcement to be made later next month.

“Such submissions will be entirely up to Sascoc to accept,” ASA said in a notice to its members.

While 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk was set to miss the Gold Coast Games in April with a knee injury, the team included world champions Luvo Manyonga and Caster Semenya, Olympic silver medallist Sunette Viljoen and Olympic sprint finalist Akani Simbine.

Preliminary national athletics team for the Commonwealth Games:

Men

100m: Akani Simbine, Anaso Jobodwana, Thando Roto

200m: Simbine, Luxolo Adams

10 000m: Stephen Mokoka

110m hurdles: Antonio Alkana

400m hurdles: Constant Pretorius, LJ van Zyl 20km walk: Lebogang Shange, Wayne Snyman High jump: Breyton Poole Long jump: Luvo Manyonga, Ruswahl Samaai

Shot put: Orazio Cremona, Jaco Engelbrecht

Discus throw: Victor Hogan Hammer throw: Tshepang Makhethe

Javelin throw: Phil-Mar Janse van Rensburg

Women

100m: Carina Horn

400m: Justine Palframan

800m: Caster Semenya

1 500m: Semenya

400m hurdles: Wenda Nel

Javelin throw: Sunette Viljoen

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