Van Zyl eyes World Champs

Johannesburg - Hurdler LJ van Zyl got his season back on track when he qualified for this year's World Athletics Championships at a meeting in Velenje, Slovenia, on Tuesday night.

The South African 400 metre hurdles record holder won the race in a time of 49.11 seconds to set the meeting record and dip below the world qualifying time of 49.40sec.

Van Zyl is the third South African men's one-lap hurdler to qualify for the world championships, joining training partners Cornel Fredericks and PC Beneke.

Coach Hennie Kotze decided to ease his star athlete back onto the track and over the barriers after Van Zyl was eliminated in the first round of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

This performance follows a confidence boosting victory over Olympic gold medallist Felix Sanchez in the men’s 200m hurdles at the Great City Games in Manchester at the end of May.

Van Zyl looked rusty in his first race over the barriers at the Doha Diamond League at the beginning of May, when he finished sixth with a time of 50.74sec.