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Johannesburg - South African shot put ace Burger Lambrechts Jnr came close to clinching a medal on the first day of the IAAF World Youth Championships in Colombia on Wednesday.
The national team made a good start to the day with 10 athletes advancing to the next round of their respective events.
Lambrechts featured in the shot put final with Patrick Duvenhage while women’s discus thrower Yolandi Stander was also in action in the evening's finals.
Although he produced a personal best heave of 20.97m it was not good enough for a podium finish.
These positions were reserved for boys achieving distances over 21m.
"They deserved to win those medals, and today just wasn't my day," said the son of former South African shot put record holder Burger Lambrechts.
Stander's 47.85m was only good enough for a seventh place overall in her event.
She will have a second stab at a medal in Thursday's shot put.
"I am disappointed, I believe I can be at that level to win a medal but I just need to work harder to get there," she said.
South African women's 100m hurdles exponent Taylon Bieldt finished her heat in second place to qualify for Thursday's semi-final clocking 13.76 seconds.
Bieldt boasts the second fastest time this season with the 13.27 seconds she posted in April.
Male sprinter Kyle Appel's nerves got the better of him in the semi-final where he false started to be disqualified.
He will have a chance to redeem himself when he lines up in the 200m heats on Friday with Tlotliso Leotlela.
The duo have the second and third fastest times this year with 20.63 seconds and 20.73 seconds respectively.
In the men’s 800m Theuns Ehlers also qualified for a semi-final finishing second in his heat clocking 1:51.22.
Anneke Germishuys will feature in the women's javelin throw final on Thursday after she qualified with a best attempt of 49.65m.
Morne van As and Gianni Lombard qualified for Thursday's semi-finals in the 400m hurdles with times of 52.16 seconds and 52.99 seconds respectively.
In the men’s flat 400m, Nicholas Marich also advanced to the next round with a second place finish in his heat posting a time of 48.41 seconds.
Ockert attended the IAAF World Youth Championships courtesy of the IAAF. His accommodation was paid for by the Colombian athletics federation.
