South Africa continued its dominance at the African Athletics Championships in Asaba, Nigeria.
It was a chilled day compared the previous two, with South African short-sprint hurdles specialist Antonio Alkana defending his title at the continental championships.
Horizontal jumps specialist Khotso Mokoena won his seventh African championship medal, further cementing his status as one of the legends on the continent.
South Africa’s half-lap sprinters – Ncincilili Titi, Luxolo Adams and Emile Erasmus – all advanced to today’s semi-final.
Titi won his heat with a time of 20.98 seconds while Luxolo Adams and Emile Erasmus finished second and third in their race with times of 21.46 and 21.85 respectively.
Defending one-lap hurdles specialist Wenda Nel made it into the next round, finishing second in her heat with a time of 57.47.
Akani Simbine won gold in the 100m at teh African Athletics Championships on Thurday. Photo:
Dean Lewins/EPA
Middle-distance phenom Caster Semenya has been the standout at the championships, breaking the South African 400m record on Friday evening.
She shaved 0.09s off the record Heide Seyerling set in Sydney in 2000 and now boasts the South African 400m, 800m, and 1500m records.
Semenya finished second in her two-lap heat with a time of two minutes, 02.90 seconds to give her a chance of a 400-800m double gold.
So far the championships belonged to Semenya and South African 100m record-holder Akani Simbine, who claimed the African title in the short-sprint event.
Simbine anchored the 4x100m relay team that included Erasmus, Simon Magakwe and Henricho Bruintjies to victory.
The foursome defended their title from two years ago on Friday evening, stopping 0.01s short of the national record with a time of 38.25 seconds.