The battle continues for 400m hurdler Cornel Fredericks to qualify for the Rio Olympics after he failed to make the cut in Sweden.
Running in the Folksam Grand Prix in Sollentuna, Fredericks finished in the third place in 49.94. It was not a bad time considering the Worcester-born athlete is making his way back from a number of injuries over the last 12 months, but it was still short of the required 49.40 Olympic qualifying time.
And with LJ van Zyl (48.67) and Lindsay Hanekom (49.03) virtually guaranteed the first two spots in the 400m trio for the Olympics, Fredericks will have to beat the 49.24 run by Le Roux Hamman to have a chance of competing in Brazil.
Tuks athlete Hamman produced another fine run to win the 400m hurdles event at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on Wednesday night in a time of 49.44, the second-fastest time of his career. The 24-year-old missed out on selection for the African Championships in Durban last week, but appears to be hitting form at the right time for Rio.
Two other SA athletes – Lebokeng Sesele and Roscoe Engel – took part in the men’s 100m in Finland on Wednesday and finished in fourth and fifth respectively in the same time of 10.37 seconds. They would’ve been disappointed as they ran faster in their heats, with Engel clocking 10.29 and Sesele 10.31.
Jerry Motsau competed in the 1 500m in Sweden on Tuesday and also missed out on an Olympic qualifying time to end ninth in 3:42.15.
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