Top ten SA sports personalities of 2013

Paralympian Oscar Pistorius appears in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day. Picture: Adrian de Kock

Paralympian Oscar Pistorius appears in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day. Picture: Adrian de Kock

Published Dec 28, 2013

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SAMEER NAIK

1. Oscar Pistorius

While many couples were exchanging Valentine’s gifts and the day was looking rosy, the news broke: a woman had been shot dead at Oscar Pistorius’s home on an exclusive estate in the east of Pretoria. Details emerged quickly: the shooter was Pistorius himself and the victim his girlfriend of a few months, model and reality-TV star Reeva Steenkamp.

Within hours, the double-amputee athlete Pistorius was arrested. Wearing a grey hoodie he was taken to the Mamelodi Hospital for tests and then on to the Boschkop police station.

Word spread across the globe and international news crews descended on the country. Everyone wanted to know how the young man known as the Blade Runner, the darling of the 2012 London Olympics, had ended up in a police holding cell. It seemed inconceivable that he had shot dead his girlfriend.

During his first court appearance, scores of local and international media flocked to the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court for Pistorius’s bail application.

Minutes after the Paralympic gold medalist walked into the dock of a hot, packed, courtroom on February 15, he was transformed into a sobbing murder suspect – charged with premeditated murder.

 

2. Chad Le Clos

The SOUTH African swimmer continued his fine form in the pool by winning the Fina Swimming World Cup for the second time in a row.

Le Clos won 24 gold medals, eight silver and three bronze medals throughout the tournament, a series of eight two-day swimming meets held in eight different cities between August and November.

Le Clos then followed with a wonderful display at the Fina World Championships, winning two gold medals at the tournament in Barcelona.

He captured the 200m butterfly title, which he had also won at the Olympics, in 1:54.32, and then backed that up with a stunning victory in the 100m.

 

3. Baby Jake Matlala

SA boxing champ Baby Jake Matlala died this month at the age of 51 at the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital.

Matlala started his professional boxing career at the age of 18, and was the shortest boxing world champion at only 1.47m tall.

He ended his career after having won four world titles.

Following his victory over Juan Herrera, Matlala presented his WBU belt to Nelson Mandela.

He is survived by his wife and two children. In 2010, he was sick and reported to be bankrupt.

 

4. Daryl Impey

SA cyclist Daryl Impey made history in July when he became the first South African to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France.

Impey also made Tour de France history by becoming the first African to take possession of the Tour de France yellow jersey.

Germany’s Andre Greipel, of Lotto, dominated a bunch sprint to win the sixth stage of the race, held over 176.5km between Aix-en-Provence and Montpellier, ahead of Slovakian Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and German Marcel Kittel (Argos).

Impey, who rode for Orica-GreenEdge, took over the race lead from Australian teammate Simon Gerrans.

 

5. Itumeleng Khune

The BAFANA Bafana skipper and Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper walked away with the prestigious Sports Star of the Year award at the SA Sports Awards at Sun City last month.

While Khune had done a sterling job in helping Kaizer Chiefs win their first Absa Premiership League title in eight years, his performances in the Bafana jersey have also set him apart as one of the best goalkeepers on the continent.

One of the reasons Bafana Bafana were able to get to the African Cup of Nations quarter-finals was because of Khune’s superb performances.

He faced stiff competition from swimmer Chad le Clos, cricketer Hashim Amla, wheelchair tennis player Lucas Sithole and athlete Mapaseka Makhanya.

 

6. Lucas Sithole

Sithole, the triple amputee wheelchair tennis star, shone during 2013.

He won the British Open title and then went one better by lifting a major trophy at the US Open.

Ranked second in the world, he twice beat world No 1 David Wagner on his way to the title.

Kevin Anderson, meanwhile, became the sixth South African to be ranked in the ATP Tour’s top 20.

 

7. Gordon Igesund

The BAFANA Bafana manager last month led his team to a historic 1-0 victory over World Champions Spain at the FNB Stadium in Joburg.

Bafana became the first African team ever to win against the Spanish.

The victory meant that Bafana moved significantly up the world football rankings.

The team moved from 85th in the world to 62nd.

Bernard Parker scored the decisive goal 10 minutes into the second half as Bafana Bafana racked up a victory.

 

8. Senzo Meyiwa

The ORLANDO Pirates goalkeeper made news headlines for good and bad reasons.

Meyiwa was in sublime form for Pirates as he led them to the final of the CAF Champions League this year.

He was one of the standout players for the Buccaneers as they came close to making history in the tournament, but unfortunately lost 2-0 to Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the decisive leg of the final.

Meyiwa also made headlines when he admitted to cheating on his wife with singer Kelly Khumalo. Meyiwa admitted he never told Khumalo he was married to Mandisa Mkhize.

Mkhize and Khumalo had a heated physical altercation on the Empire Road off-ramp near the M1 South in Joburg earlier this year, which landed Khumalo in jail.

 

9. Quinton de Kock

The PROTEAS wicketkeeper became only the fifth player in one-day international history to score centuries in three consecutive matches.

De Kock hit three sublime centuries against India in the three One Day Internationals (ODI) played in South Africa.

The 20-year-old scored 342 runs in this three-match series and was the first to aggregate this many runs in a three-game series.

De Kock was also named Man of the Series, which saw South Africa claim the three-match series 2-0, after the third ODI was called off due to rain.

 

10. Natalie Du Toit

Retired Paralympic swimmer Natalie du Toit was awarded an honorary MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in October.

Queen Elizabeth II announced the honorary MBE for Du Toit’s services to Paralympic sport.

Du Toit retired after the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, where she won three gold medals and one silver medal. - Independent on Saturday

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