SA’s mixed 4x400m team broke the African record as they qualified for the relay final on the opening day of the world championships in Tokyo on Saturday.
Gardeo Isaacs, Miranda Coetzee, Leendert Koekemoer and Zeney van der Walt swept around the National Stadium in 3 min 11.16 sec to eclipse the 3:11.88 held by Kenya.
Their time was also nearly two seconds faster than the 3:13.12 South African mark set at the African championships last year.
The Kenyans threatened to reclaim the continental record, going around the second heat in an even faster time before being disqualified for a lane infringement, leaving the South Africans seeded sixth for the final, which is scheduled for 3.20pm on Saturday (SA time).
Isaacs put the team into the lead on the opening leg and Coetzee looked strong as she handed over the baton in second place behind the US.
Matric pupil Koekemoer delivered a powerful performance to slip the baton to Van der Walt almost level with the Americans.
Van der Walt was overtaken by Yemi Mary John of Britain on the final lap, but she was strong enough to hold off the Italian runner to secure third place, which guaranteed them automatic passage to the final.
In other action, Jessica Groenewald, the 33-year-old chartered accountant and mother of two from Potchefstroom, ended 34th in the women’s 35km race walk in 3 hr 16 min 03 sec.
In the men’s shot put, Aiden Smith and Chris van Niekerk were unable to progress beyond the qualifying round.
Smith ended 16th in Group A with a best throw of 19.32m, while Van Niekerk was 12th in Group B with a heave of 18.81m.
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