Seen here (from left to right): Clarence Munyai, Kyle Whitehall (Liquid Telecom South Africa Chief Executive Officer), Joshua Cheptegei, Aleck Skhosana (the president of Athletics South Africa), Anaso Jobodwana and Michael Meyer (Managing Director of Stillwater Sports). Photo Credit: Tobias Ginsberg
A star studded line up will be presented at the first Liquid Telecom Athletix Grand Prix Meeting in Ruimsig on Thursday, 01 March 2018.
Among the highlights of the first Meeting are the 200m Men, 400m Men, 1500m Men, High Jump, 400m Women and 800m Women.
The 200m Men sees former South African record holder Anaso Jobodwana line up against America’s 2014 World Junior champion in the 200m, Trentavis Friday, World Junior record holder in the 300m Clarence Munyai and Botswana’s national 200m record holder Isaac Makwala.
Both Jobodwana and Munyai have put in class performances this past weekend at the AGN Provincial Championships. Munyai lowered his 100m Personal Best from 10.20sec to 10.10sec, while Jobodwana clocked a wind assisted 10.07sec. Both are itching to race each other. Throw in Makwala who ran 19.77sec in Madrid in 2017 and Friday, and you have the makings of a quality 200m race.
Makwala has a tough day as he lines up in the 400m some 30 minutes prior to the 200m. How he recovers from the 400m will be of huge interest to the athletes in the 200m. Thapelo Phora will be looking forward to taking on the Botswana athlete in the 400m after showing early season form. Phora clocked 45.92 on Saturday 24 February at the Gauteng North Championships.
Joshua Cheptegei, the World Championships 10 000m silver medalist returns to South Africa to headline the 1500m, but he may find the going hard against a hungry SA contingent including Jerry Motsau, Folavio Sehole, national champion Dumisang Hlaselo and rising star Ryan Mphahlele. Cheptegei’s training partner, Abel Sikowo and country man Ronald Musagala are also in the field.
World Youth champion, Breyton Poole is the star attraction in the High Jump. He cleared 2.24m for the world title in 2017 and in November improved his best to 2.25m. He faces Mpho Links, the 2017 SA University champion who has a best of 2.23m and Chris Moleya, the 2017 South African champion who also boasts a best of 2.25m.
On the women’s front, expect a tight duel in the 800m between the two Ugandan’s Winnie Nanyondo and Halimah Nakaayi who have both gone under 2 minutes. Nanyando holds the edge with her 1:58.63 run in 2014 to Nakaayi’s 1:59.78 she ran in the 2016 Rio Olympics. While there is no Caster Semenya in the 800m, South African supporters will be looking to hard front-running Gena Lofstrand to give the Ugandans a challenge.
The 400m Women promises to be a match-up between Botswana’s Amantle Montsho, Goitseone Seleka and Christine Botlogetswe and South Africa’s Justine Palframan, 400m hurdler, Wenda Nel and exciting youth prospect Amy Naude. Montsho is the 2011 world champion and 2013 World Championship silver medalist and on paper is the favorite to win the one lapper.
EVENT INFORMATION: Liquid Telecom Athletix Grand Prix Series
Dates and Venues:
| Thursday, 01 March 2018 | Ruimsig Stadium, Johannesburg |
| Thursday, 08 March 2018 | Tuks Stadium, Tshwane |
| Thursday, 22 March 2018 | Dal Josaphat Stadium, Paarl |
Ticket Prices:
Main Pavilion Tickets
| Standard Ticket: | R 100 each |
| Children under 16 years of age: | R 50 each |
Open Stand/Grass Banks
| Standard Ticket: | R 50 each |
| Children under 16 years of age: | R 50 each |
ONLINE TICKET SALES are open and can be purchased via www.webtickets.co.za
Tickets can also be purchased at the gate of each event.
Visit the event’s Facebook page for daily announcements!
Facebook: AthletixGrandPrix
Twitter: @AthletixGP
Website: www.athletixgrandprix.com
ABOUT LIQUID TELECOM
Liquid Telecom is a leading communications services and solutions provider across 13 countries in Eastern, central and Southern Africa that serves carrier, enterprise and retail customers with high-speed, reliable connectivity and digital services.
It has built Africa’s largest independent fibre network, spanning over 50,000km, and operates state-of-the-art data centres in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Nairobi, with a combined 6,800 square meters of rack space.
This is in addition to leading cloud-based services, such as Microsoft Office365 and Microsoft Azure, and innovative digital content provision, including Netflix, NBA, TED and Kwese Play.
Through this combined offering, Liquid Telecom is enhancing customers’ experience on their digital journey.
About Athletics South Africa:
Athletics South Africa (ASA) is the national governing body for the sport of athletics (including track and field, cross country, road running and racewalking) in South Africa, recognised by the IAAF, and also a member of Confederation of African Athletics. The association is based in Johannesburg.