An eight-member track and field team has been unveiled by the South Africa Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) as part of a 24-member Team South Africa for the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in Nassau, Bahamas from 19-23 July.
At the previous edition of the Under-18 multi-sport event in Apia, Samoa in 2015, the athletics team contributed 10 of the nation’s 35 medals, raking in six gold, one silver and three bronze.
“The 2017 team is equally strong and we believe they will defend the national flag and the title won in 2015 by their counterparts,” said Aleck Skhosana, the Athletics South Africa President.
“We expect all the athletes selected in the final team to continue training harder and remain focussed during the preparation phase leading to competition in the Bahamas.
“We know some of the athletes will be going to the IAAF World Youth Championships in Nairobi, Kenya (12-16 July). So, it will be a great stage to test their state of readiness for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bahamas.”
In a statement released by Team SA’s Chef de Mission, Patience Shikwambana on Tuesday, she said: “Go and have fun, play fair and inspire more youth to take action and get involved in sport to change their lives and become better people in future through sport.”
Team South Africa Athletics – Bahamas 2017
Boys:
- Luke Davids
- Jayson Weber
- Lindukuhle Gora
- Adam Mayo.
Girls:
- Caroline Mosime
- Marli Viljoen
- Keletso Senosi
- Antoinette van der Merwe
Meet The Authors
Yomog Meje is a former Nigerian junior athlete and the Associate editor at Athletics Africa.