Bloemfontein’s young rising sprinter Lucky Moleyane has gotten another nod, with inclusion in the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) squad of 209 athletes to compete at the 2022 Region V Games in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The event will take place from 2 to 12 December.
The federation announced the South African team on Thursday (16/11).
These games, held a 10th time, are expected to attract some 3000 athletes in total from ten southern African countries.
Moleyane, a learner of Grey College, has recovered fully from a hamstring injury he sustained in March. The injury affected his performance and he thus missed out on the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.
The record-breaker in sprinting events, 100m and 200m, will compete in both events and as part of the relay team in Malawi.
Elinda Vorster, the sprinting coach, believes its time to make up for a bad season and continue to sharpen for more prestigious international championships next year.
She lamented the injury made this season bad and it derailed plans to even compete in Europe.
According to the mentor, the injury occurred at the worst possible time given it affected their plans to compete abroad and nationally at the Athletics South Africa Grand Prix championship that served as qualifier for the games in England.
It is water under the bridge as they work to plot to achieve something next year.
“Lucky looks good after the injury. We can compete abroad next year at any time. The issue money, as you have to pay own expenses, accommodation and flights. There’s no sponsorship for him right now,” said Voster, who’s delighted with Moleyane’s rich vein of form that earned a place in the national team. Moleyane was part of South Africa’s 4 x 100 m junior relay team in the 2021 World Athletics U20 championships in Kenya, helping South Africa set a world record of 38.51 seconds on 22 August.
The team of 209 athletes will compete across 11 different sporting codes.
“We are delighted to be taking such a strong squad of young athletes and we have an experienced management team to oversee them.
“These games are vitally important in the development of an athlete’s career. The likes of our Olympians, Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya, who became track legends, are a product of these Games,” said Nozipho Jafta, chief executive of Sascoc.
“Many of the athletes across Team SA in Malawi will go on to become Olympians and Paralympians. Through our Operation Excellence Programme (Opex), we are identifying young future stars and sup- porting them through their careers. This is another opportunity to showcase the importance of Opex as we build towards the 2024 and 2028 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris and LA,” she said.
We are delighted to be taking a strong squad of athletes and we have an experienced management team to oversee them.
– Nozipho Jafta
