JOHANNESBURG – There will be a star-studded line-up for the 200m event at the first Athletix Grand Prix Meeting at the Ruimsig Stadium in Roodepoort, Johannesburg on Thursday, March 1.
The field will include world 200m bronze medallist Anaso Jobodwana, world junior 300m record holder Clarence Munyai, America’s former world 200m junior champion Trentavis Friday, South Africa’s world youth champion in the 200m, Retshidisitswe Mlenga, and Justin Walker, a training partner to Friday.
“My strength is the final surge,” said Friday, who has a best of 20.33sec. “I am confident that I can make an impact on race day in the 200m. This is my preferred race.
“This is a first for Friday and we have never been to South Africa. We are both quite excited,” said Walker, who boasts a 200m best of 20.26sec. “Jobodwana, Munyai and Mlenga are seriously good and I cannot wait to go into the blocks with them.”
The US athletes will have to deal with a 17-hour flight, but they are not phased by this. “We will just make sure that we are well hydrated before we get onto the plane and keep on hydrating. And of course lots of stretching,” Walker went on to say.
Clarence Munyai has already made his intentions known after winning a 300m in 32.08sec at the Classic shootout last Friday, beating the likes of 400m specialist, Pieter Conradie.
“I’m looking forward to racing on March 1. I always love racing against Anaso and Retshidisitswe. To have the added incentive of racing against the Americans in front of our home crowd is a really big deal. We get to show South Africa at home that we are mixing it up with the world. This is really exciting,” said Munyai.
Munyai has only raced the 300m twice. He set the world junior record of 31.61sec in Ostrava on 28 June and his second time was last Friday.
“That race showed me that things are coming together nicely. I will be ready for anything at the Athletix Grand Prix Meeting in Ruimsig, so I am really looking forward to the race.”
Munyai ran the South African junior record in the 200m of 20.10sec at Tuks in March last year, while Retshidisitswe Mlenga clocked 20.88sec on January 29 on the very track at Ruimsig.
With Jobodwana itching to get back into sub 20sec shape, the 200m race at Roodepoort is shaping up to be a race that South Africans will look forward to with much anticipation.