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South Africa secures three medals on final day of World Relays─── MORGAN PIEK 08:05 Mon, 12 May 2025
It was a memorable final day at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China, as South Africa’s men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams claimed gold, while the women’s 4x400m team brought home a hard-earned bronze.
The men’s 4x100m quartet, Bayanda Walaza, Sinesipho Dambile, Bradley Nkoana, and Akani Simbine, stormed to victory in the final, clocking 37.61 seconds.
They narrowly missed the South African record of 37.57, set when the team won silver at the Paris Olympic Games last year. The United States finished just behind, taking silver in 37.66 seconds.
Team SA. Photo: X
In the men’s 4x400m event, Gardeo Isaacs, Udeme Okon, Leendert Koekemoer, and Zakithi Nene delivered an equally impressive performance, clinching gold in 2:57.50. They smashed the SA record of 2:58.12, previously set by Nene, Isaacs, Lythe Pillay, and Antonie Nortje at the Paris Olympics, by more than half a second.
Belgium finished second in 2:58.19.
The women’s 4x400m team also rose to the occasion. Shirley Nekhubui, Miranda Coetzee, Precious Molepo, and Zeney Geldenhuys clocked 3:24.84 to secure the bronze medal. In doing so, they obliterated the national record of 3:28.01, which had just been set in the heats the previous day by Nekhubui, Molepo, Geldenhuys, and Hannah van Niekerk.
Mixed 4x400m relay
Spain took the gold in 3:24.13, while the USA claimed silver with a time of 3:24.72.
In the mixed 4x400m relay, the South African team of Hannah van Niekerk, Mthi Mthimkulu, Jada van Staden, and Tumisang Shezi finished fifth in 3:16.29.
All four South African teams reached their respective finals thanks to strong performances in Saturday’s heats results which also secured their spots at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September.
