The additional names bring the final number of competitors for London to 125. Extra names were announced in just two codes, those of aquatics and athletics.
In athletics, Khotso Mokoena (long jump) and Lehann Fourie (110 m hurdles) were included in the final team when the announcement was made.
Giving South Africa another shot at a possible medal was the inclusion of a 4 x 400 m relay squad. Among those names were Paralympic ace, Oscar Pistorius, who ran an A-standard qualifier in the 400 m and will now compete at his first Olympic Games, as well as Willem de Beer. The South African 4 x 400 m relay team won silver at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea, last year.
Sascoc President Gideon Sam congratulated the additional members of the squad: “Finally, we have a complete squad! It’s taken four long years of work, but now we can concentrate on doing our best at the Games. The preparation has been done and now it’s up to our athletes to take over in London and show us what they’re made of.
“As I have said many times before, we are not taking passengers to London. Everyone has met selection criteria and are genuine Olympic Games material, either now or for 2016. I wish them all the best.”
Coaching additions to the squad saw Hennie Kotze, coach of LJ van Zyl, also included, bringing the total number to eight members representing TuksAthletics in Team SA! Other Tuks athletes that were already included in the team earlier are LJ van Zyl (400 m hurdles), Caster Semenya (800 m) and Marc Mundell (50 km walk).
Our good wishes accompany them on their quest for the Gold!
TUKS OF NIKS!
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