South Africa advance to 4x400m relay final despite finishing last in the Semi finals

By Ayanda Nyuswa

Team South Africa Men’s 4x400m relay team advanced to the Olympic final, despite finishing in last position in semi final 2 on Friday. South Africa put out a decent relay team that consisted of Zakithi Nene, Lythe Pillay, Gardoe Issacs and Antonie Nortje. The team advanced to the final after a successful appeal that came after Nortje was tripped by one of the runners in the third leg of the race, which led to them falling behind in the field to finish in last position in a time of 3:03.19. They will return to a packed Stade de France on Saturday night (21h00) for a chance to add to add more medals to South Africa’s tally. 

On Friday night, the 4x100m relay team of Akani Simbine, Bayanda Walaza, David Nkoane and Shaun Maswanganyi will compete for top honours in the Olympic final after their impressive performance in the heats. They finished with the second quickest time (34.94) in the heats, behind the United States of America (37.47). The race will take place at 19:47 in the evening.

Picture: AFP