Nelson Mandela Bay athletes Luxolo Adams, Luvo Manyonga and Ischke Senekal are heading to London for the inaugural Athletics World Cup this weekend.
The three flew to the UK on Wednesday to prepare for the first edition of the eight-nation team event scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Adams, a national 200m champion, will put his sprinting shoes to the test in the 200m, in addition to being in line for a spot on the 4x100 metre relay start line.
He is in high spirits, coming off the back of a successful trip to Europe.
“I think the races I participated in during my trip to Europe have really helped me in terms of getting used to the bigger events.“I have learned so much during my travels, and it can only serve me well as I prepare for this next challenge,” Adams said.
He was a late addition to the SA squad at the World Cup. His call-up came at the eleventh hour, after star 200m athlete Clarence Munyai withdrew due to injury.
“I am very excited about this opportunity, and I just want to give my best performance for the team.
“I have known about the World Cup since the beginning of the year, and despite not making the first team selection, I was very excited to find out that I would be part of the team,” he said.
Senekal will compete in both the shot put and discus events.
“My training has been going well. I have been putting in a lot of work over the last few weeks, and now we wait to see if the training pays off,” she said.
While she would not be drawn into any talk of medals, Senekal said her main aim was to try to throw some new personal bests – and if that resulted in her getting a medal she would be extremely pleased.
Manyonga, a 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, echoed her sentiments, saying “to speak about specific aims only creates expectation”.
“I’m very excited to represent my country as an experienced athlete. I don’t take anything too seriously – this is sport, it won’t always go the way you want. ”
Manyonga said he would try to emulate what he had been working on in training, as well as having as much fun as possible.
Countries taking part include the US, UK, Poland, China, Germany, France, Jamaica and South Africa.
Each nation will be competing for a $2m (R26.8m) prize pot over two evening sessions of athletics under lights.
A total of 34 track and field events will be contested, with points being scored based on finishing positions after each event.
While more than 100 individual medals will be up for grabs, the ultimate prize is the coveted team trophy, awarded to the team with the most points at the conclusion of the event.