Masters Athletics

WORLD MASTERS ATHLETICS CHAMPS FINLAND - AUGUST 2009 Here are the M75 high jumpers in Lahti, Finland in 2009, from left to right: 5th Turkey, 4th S.A. - Leo Benning, 3rd Finland (he jumped the scissor style) and the winner from Denmark, and 2nd Norway  (photo provided by Leo Benning). The next World Masters Athletics Champs are scheduled for Sweden in 2022. https://world-masters-athletics.com/calendar/

Masters Athletics in South Africa (1975 - 2020)   -  (Part 1) As we all know, sports events around the world have either been cancelled or postponed. While we are in lockdown. let's have a look at some of the S.A. athletes, past and present who have contributed in some or other way to our sport. This year World Masters Athletics (WMA) (previously known as World Veteran Athletics – WVA) would have celebrated 45 years since the first world championships was held in 1975 in Toronto, and it would have been the 24 th world championships (taking place every 2 nd year). Sadly, it was not to be.  https://wmatoronto2020.com/history/ However, Leo Benning, one of our founder members of S.A. Veteran Athletics, a SAMA statistician for many years, and an active athlete himself, has written a book  - For the love of it – and it will be available on Amazon as soon as possible. Starting in 1975, when some of our own athletes attended the first world champs in Toronto, w

GET READY, STEADY, GO - 5 MONTHS TO TORONTO  20 July, 2020 to 1 August 2020 3 months for registration till 18 May 2020 https://wmatoronto2020.com/

9 DAYS TO GO WORLD MASTERS ATHLETICS INDOORS - 2019 - TORUN, POLAND  www.wmaci2019.com Just to whet the appetite of our S.A. supporters, we list below a few highlights of previous world indoor championships where our athletes competed very successfully in the past, considering that the majority of our athletes had never set foot in an indoor stadium before in their lives !   The first World Masters Indoors Championships was held in 2004 in Sindelfingen, Germany where about 5  South Africans competed very successfully. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xH0vOnAQ0lQGliB771NqiTmBMA0WYLIr/view The 2006 championships were held in Linz, Austria.  5 South Africans competed, among them, the Springbok Hammer thrower, Basie Koen, who won the title in his age group. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17T46r16d55yTQPOWA2TG-9MzNChv-X22/view In 2008 the champs were held in  Clermont-Ferrand, France, during which time 10 athletes from S.A. competed, including the two Springboks, Basie K

ON THE ROAD AGAIN ! MASTERS ATHLETES PUT S.A. MASTERS ROAD RUNNING ‘ON THE MAP’ !!! Kallie Burger (37) of KPMG has been selected for the CGA Senior Marathon team for the Sanlam/Cape Town Marathon, which will also double up as the ASA Marathon Championships, on Sunday 23 September 2018. He has a number of personal best performances behind his name and will be out to improve on his marathon time. Everything of the best Kallie ! Kallie's List of impressive PB’s: ( all inland) • 5km – 16:10 • 10km – 33:16 • 15km – 52:42 • 21km – 1:15:08 • 32km – 1:56:25 • 42km – 2:28 • 50km – 3:22 • 56km – 3:47 • 89km – 6:32 Kallie’s best times for 2018 would have placed him 7th and 10th, in the 10 and 21k races respectively at the recent World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships held in Malaga, Spain He has set his sights on the World Masters 10km and Halfmarathon events in Torun, Poland in March 2019 -  which are held in conjunction with

LADIES WALKERS, ELSA MEYER (70) AND HILDEGARD VEY (75) IN THE 5000M WALK WON GOLD AND SILVER RESPECTIVELY AND THROWER,  HELEEN KNOBEL (50) WON SILVER IN THE SHOTPUT.   CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR LADIES !   NOW WE EAGERLY AWAIT OUR FIRST  MEN'S  MEDALLIST ! http://www.rfea.es/competi/result2018/airelibre/Malaga2018/C93.2018EX019.html TOMORROW WILL SEE THE 2ND DAY OF THE DECATHLON AND HEPTATHLON EVENTS, AND THE 8 KM CROSS COUNTRY EVENTS 5 September 2018 8 cross country competition tomorrow runners from S.A. – 5 Ladies and 3 Men.   Ronelle Botha (55) will be competing in her first world champs, and is a seasoned provincial cross country athlete (CGMA) who has competed in 3 S.A. Cross Country Champs.   Frances van Blerk (60) a seasoned road (and Ladies Comrades winner in 1992) and cross country runner from GN, has competed in numerous World Champs and has medalled in the cross country and road events. We wish all our athletes competing tomorrow in the first round