Athletics
Oscar picked, Caster out
2011-08-25 11:52
Johannesburg - South Africa picked double-amputee
sprinter Oscar Pistorius in its team for the All Africa Games on Thursday,
giving him another chance to prove himself against able-bodied athletes
ahead of next year's Olympics.
Pistorius will make history in
Daegu, South Korea as the first amputee athlete to compete at a world
championships and will then travel straight to the All Africa Games in
Maputo, Mozambique, which run September 3-18.
The 24-year-old
Pistorius clocked a personal-best 45.07 in the 400m last month to
force his way into South Africa's team for the worlds, but still needs
to qualify for the London Games to fulfill his ambition of competing at
the Olympics.
South Africa also included swimmers Roland Schoeman
and Cameron van der Burgh in a group of more than 200 athletes in 18
sports for the African games. Multiple paralympic champion Natalie du
Toit was in the para-swimming team.
Women's 800m champion
Caster Semenya, who defends her title in Daegu, was not included, but
junior long jump world champion Luvo Manyonga and Commonwealth javelin
champion Sunette Viljoen were picked.
However, South Africa's
participation in the men's football event in Maputo is in doubt after
some of the country's Premier Soccer League clubs refused to release
their players for the Games.
The South African Sports
Confederation and Olympic Committee said the national football
association had until the end of Thursday to submit names of the players
"or face expulsion from Team South Africa for the All Africa Games
2011."
South Africa finished third on the medal table at the last All Africa Games in Algiers in 2007, behind Egypt and host Algeria.