Share

Lombard wins 11th medal

Beijing - Fanie Lombard entrenched his position as the owner of themost medals by a South African Paralympian on Wednesday when he wonbronze in the shot put F42 at the Paralympics in Beijing.

His precious metal haul over the years now stands at seven gold, two silver and two bronze.

He confirmed his third spot in a tough final with his finalthrow of the competition, his 13.87m effort sealing the deal behind theworld record 14.43m of Darko Kralj of Croatia.

"It's getting tough out there," said the genial veteran offour Paralympics, who is just a year shy of his 40th birthday. "Theguys are getting very professional, and I really didn't expect to get amedal," he added.

But he wouldn't rule out the possibility of competing in theParalympics one more time in London in 2012. "I'll only stop when theystop giving me medals," he joked. "I'll tell you when I'll quit aftermy brandy tonight," he added.

He got support in South Africa's medal chase from David Roos in the men's long jump F46 with a silver - and it also took his last effort to make sure of it.

Tough missing out

"I didn't know where I was throughout the competition,"he said,"and when I checked with the officials after my last jump and they toldme, I asked them three times if they were sure," said Roos, who misseda medal with his fourth-place finish in Athens four years ago.

He produced a leap of 6.64m to edge China's Li Kangyong down into third.

"It was tough missing out in Athens," said Roos, "but it's thekind of thing you have to learn from. You have to learn from losing."The event was won by Arnaud Assoumani of France in a world record7.23m.

In other track events on Wednesday, Marius Stander stumbled onthe line of the 400m T38 final as he tried to get the bronze medalahead of Ukraine's Andriy Onufriyenko and had to be satisfied with aseason's best performance of 52.56.

And Chenelle van Zyl was unable to progress to the final threethrows of the women's javelin F35-38, with her best of 17.86m leavingher in 14th place.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1271 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1469 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2240 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE