The University of the Free State will boast three athletes at the upcoming World Athletics U20 Championship, in Cali, Columbia, next month.
Two of the athletes, Joané Gerber and Tjaart van der Walt, are still studying at Kovsies, while Miné de Klerk is studying and competing in the USA under the banner of the University of Oregon. Forty-seven competitors will be representing South Africa at the Championships in August.
Van der Walt will compete in the 400m for men and the 4 x 400m relay for men, while Gerber will represent South Africa in the long jump, and De Klerk is to compete in the discus and shot put.
At the 2021 World Championship in Nairobi, Kenya, De Klerk won gold in the shot put with a best attempt of 17.40m, while in the discus she shattered the African junior record with a throw of 53.50m to clinch silver. In doing so she broke the record of Simone du Toit, which has stood since 2006.
Gerber boasts a personal best jump of 6.35 metres, which she set in March 2022 at the Athletics South Africa Grand Prix meet in Bloemfontein.
Van der Walt is still at school but has been competing for the Kovsie Athletics Club this year.
The 2022 World Athletics U20 Championship will be staged from 2 to 7 August at the Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero. – MORGAN PIEK
