Rising sprint stars Karriem Abduraghmaan and Kayla Murray stole the show on Thursday, charging to victory in the junior men's and women's 100m finals on Day 1 of the ASA U16, U18 and U20 Track and Field Championships at Msunduzi Athletics Stadium in Pietermaritzburg.
In the men's under-20 short sprint final, Abduraghmaan rocketed to a comfortable victory, taking the gold medal in 10.51 seconds.
His Western Province Athletics (WPA) teammate Luqmaan Gabier grabbed silver in 10.67, narrowly holding off Matthew van Rooijen of Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) who was credited with the same time (10.67) but was determined to be 0.005 further back in a photo finish.
"It feels amazing. We've been working for this for a few years and we got it, so I'm grateful," Abduraghmaan said after the race. "I was expecting to run faster, but unfortunately the weather wasn't in our favour today. But that's out of our control, so other than that we did what we came for."
Murray, representing Athletics Gauteng North (AGN), was equally dominant in the women's 100m final, scorching to gold in 11.89. Kayla la Grange (CGA) took second place in 12.04 and Natacha Gertenbach was third in 12.05 in the colours of Athletics Free State (AFS).
"I felt a bit tense but we did have a headwind, so it was a little bit of a struggle. But I do like a challenge, so overall it was wonderfull," Murray said. "I don't think it has sunk in yet and I'll definitely be doing a little happy dance when I get home, but I feel on top of the world at the moment."
Meanwhile, in perhaps the most thrilling race of the day, Chardene Smidt of Athletics Vaal Triangle (AVT) won the U18 girls' 100m final in 11.95, just 0.01 ahead of AGN athlete Reabaka Matshitse who settled for the runner-up spot in 11.96.
Werner Bezuidenhout (AGN) won the U18 boys' 100m final in 10.52, Jaco van der Westhuizen of Limpopo Athletics (LIMA) earned gold in the U16 boys' 100m event in 10.98 and Oluchi Abelwe Ndubueze (CGA) won the U16 girls' 100m title in 12.37.
Earlier on the opening day of competition at the national age group showpiece, Minenhle Myeni (KZNA) won the U20 men's 10 000m walk in 48:50.70, Yamkela Shosha (CGA) took the U18 boys 10 000m walk in 51:24.00 and Lesedi Mphelane (CGA) secured gold in the U-16 boys' 5 000m walk in 26:24.37.
Boland Athletics (BOLA) won the boys' and girls' Swedish relay finals - 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m - in times of 2:02.22 and 2:15.00, respectively. The gold medal in the U18 mixed 4x400m relay final was taken by AGN in 3:36.98 and ACNW won the U20 mixed 4x400m title in 3:32.66.
In boys' field event finals, gold medals were bagged by Johandre Pienaar of AGN in the U20 javelin throw (67.68m), Ewald Jansen of Athletics Central North West (ACNW) in the U18 javelin throw (68.57m) and Andrew Rothman of Boland Athletics (BOLA) in the U18 pole vault (4.10m).
The girls field event finals were won by Johani van Tonder of AFS in the U20 triple jump (12.09m), Shannon Purchase of AFS in the U20 pole vault (3.30m), Ciliethe Julies of AFS in the U20 hammer throw (47.97m), Timeke Coetzee of AGN in the U18 triple jump (12.26m), Anje Holtzhausen of AVT in the U18 hammer throw (56.06m) and Stephane Hook of ACNW in the U16 javelin throw (46.54m).
"Congratulations to all the medallists on Day 1 of this prestigious championship event. Their results are a reflection of their hard work this season and their rewards are well deserved," said ASA President, James Moloi.
"Good luck to all the athletes who are still to compete over the next two days of this three-day event. We wish them all the best."