16 September 2016

MEDALS: 14

 Gold: 6

Kevin Paul – Swimming

Hilton Langenhoven – Athletics

Charl du Toit – Athletics

Ernst van Dyk – Cycling Reinhardt Hamman – Athletics

Charl du Toit – Athletics

Silver: 4

Ilse Hayes – Athletics

Ntando Mahlangu – Athletics

Anrune Liebenberg – Athletics

Jonathan Ntutu – Athletics

Bronze 4

Fanie van der Merwe – Athletics

Tyrone Pillay – Athletics

Zanele Situ – Athletics

Dyan Buis – Athletics

It’s Du Toit at the double as he gets 400m gold in Rio!

 By Mark Etheridge

Charl du Toit became Team South Africa’s first double medallist of the Rio Paralympics on Friday.

He added to his T37 gold medal in the 100m dash at the weekend by snatching another victor in the 400m event.

That meant that the 23-year-old boosted the team’s tally to 14 medals with just Saturday and Sunday’s events to go.

The Johannesburg-born, Stellenbosch-based athlete clocked 51.13 seconds for a Paralympic record as he won gold by almost two seconds from Venezuela’s Omar Monterola (52.93).  ‘I’m just so thankful for this,’ said Du Toit. ‘I woke up this morning and wasn’t feeling too good but the team doctor woke up early and helped me get rid the stuff in my chest, a wonderful medical team we have here.

‘And I am also surrounded by a wonderful training group. You know, at the beginning of the year we all got a theme to train by and mine was “Smiling Lightning”, said the man who has made a smile his trademark during these games.’

Speaking of his race he said: ‘My wonderful coach, Suzanne Ferreira, and I spoke before the race and we agreed that I’d be conservative for the first 200m and then accelerate form there and it all worked out.

’To get two gold medals at my age, never in my wildest dreams did I expect that but then again, I train with some of the best athletes in the world.

‘Me and my family have been through a few tough months but hopefully I did my country proud.’ Also on the track T47 athlete Anruné Liebenberg was unable to emulate her silver medal in the 400m as she ended fourth in the 200m final with a time of 26.57.

But Dyan Buis, who won bronze in the T38 long jump on Thursday did enough to get through to the 400m final with a 54.66 finish in the heats.

In the pool Emily Gray, possibly ended her Paralympic career with the way she started it, in the 100m backstroke (S9). She was agonisingly one spot away from making the final, ninth fastest in the heats with a time of 1:16.42.

In cycling Craig Ridgard ended 28th in the final of the C1-3 road race while Goldy Fuchs was ninth in the T1-2 classification.

And there was to be no joy for four-time Paralympian Philippa Johnson and Lord Louis in the Individual Freestyle Test. The dressage combination were eliminated.

Friday’s golden action from Du Toit sees the team sitting in 19th spot with 14 medals.

Picture of Du Toit dashing to his gold medal double courtesy of Wessel Oosthuizen/SASPA

Four more medals come Team SA’s way on bumper day in Rio

By Mark Etheridge

It was medals galore for Team South Africa on Thursday, as another four rained down in Rio on their best day of the 2016 Paralympics.

Two golds, a silver and bronze joined the nine medals already harvested by the team and taking their tally to 13 with three days of competition to come.

After Ernst van Dyk (H5 hand cycle road race) and Reinhardt Hamman (F38 javelin) had won gold in the afternoon, the evening’s track and field events saw Ndodomzi ‘Jonathan’ Ntutu sprint to silver in the T12 100-metres and Dyan Buis bounded to bronze in the T38 long jump.

Ntutu ran 11.09 seconds for a season’s best time and Buis brought bronze back to the Athletes’ Village with a best of 6.58 metres on the night.

Beating Ntutu to gold was Cuba’s Leinier Savon Pineda in a time of 10.97.

‘Actually I still feel I could have done a bit better, so maybe slightly disappointed but hey, it’s always a pleasure to get a medal for my country,’ was Ntutu’s initial reaction after the race. ‘I obviously planned to peak here but my start… it was the worst I’ve had for a while.

‘This was a much more difficult class than in 2012 so I guess getting a silver here is still a good experience. Now I’ve still got the 200m heats, semis and hopefully a final coming up. I think I’m one of the last South Africans competing at the Games, so no holiday for me.’

As for Buis, he had to face a twin-pronged podium threat from Chinese duo Jianwen Hu and Huangho Zhong who took gold and silver in 6.64 and 6.59m respectively.

That meant that, much like fellow long jumper Luvo Manyonga at last month’s Olympics, just a centimetre separated him from higher honours.

‘After the other night when I was so close in the 100m but just missed a medal, tonight I was very happy and really enjoyed the competition. Like I always do, I came out and every jump I just did it for God,’ said the Stellenbosch based athlete.

‘I actually thought the gold medal was even in reach .. but still, I’m so happy with the PB as well – and on my last jump.

‘I really went for it and gave it my all because everything was so close but it was good to have buried those 100m memories and being able to just focus on the long jump tonight.’

Despite the further two medals by Ntutu and Buis South Africa still slipped one position in the medals table after the Van Dyk/Hamman double gold had moved them from 27th to 19th. They’ll start Friday’s action in 20th spot.

In other finals involving South Africans, teenager Ntando Mahlungu ended fifth in the T42 100m final (12.57) while London Paralympian Chenelle van Zyl took fourth spot in the F34 shot put with a best heave of 8.49m on the night.

Also on the track, like Hilton Langenhoven in the T12 400m semi-final earlier in the Games there was heartache for blind runner Louzanne Coetzee as she was also disqualified.

She was running in the T11 heats with guide Khothatso Mokone at her side, she ended third but was disqualified under IPC rule 7.10 which states that the ‘guide runner must not push or pull or otherwise propel athlete’.

There’ll be heart-ache for both runner and guide right now but at just 23 years of age, there’s lots more to come for Coetzee.

Heats action saw Charl du Toit (T37) go through to the final of the 400m with a time of 55.28 while Anruné Liebenberg’s season’s best of 26.63 in the T47 200m also saw her booking a place in the final.

In the only swimming involving South Africans Hendri Herbst took fourth spot in the S11 100m freestyle final with a time of 59.71.

Apart from Van Dyk’s gold out on the road, hand-cyclist Justine Asher took 12th in a time of 1:37.36 in a tough combined H2-4 class.

Picture of Buis and Coetzee in action on Thursday, courtesy of Wessel Oosthuizen/SASPA

Plucky Paull puts disappointment behind him and targets Tokyo

By Mark Etheridge

Debut Paralympian Graham Paull should be in the pits of despair after his disqualification from the KL1 200-metre canoe heats earlier this week.

After qualifying for the semi-final in heat two, a technical issue with his boat saw him being disqualified and leaving a Paralympic dream in tatters.

But, in true Paralympic spirit, Paull picked himself up and was back at the Lagoa Stadium on Thursday watching the finals with girlfriend Nicky Morgan and dreaming of what could have been.

‘I was in complete disbelief when I heard that my boat had failed boat control, I never dreamt that something like this would happen,’ he told Road to Rio 2016.

‘I’m absolutely devastated and hugely disappointed that this is how my first Paralympic journey has ended, but all I can do now is pick myself up and look forward to the future.

‘The Paralympic experience has been an amazing one. I’ve met so many incredible athletes and people. It’s an experience that I will take with me forever. Now I plan to go home and regroup and then focus on Tokyo 2020.’

Helping to explain exactly what happened, Paull’s manager in Rio, Fouche van Tonder explained: ‘Graham was disqualified because his boat was under weight by 0.02kg rounded up to 0.05kg. I did appeal and the boat was put on the scale again. I asked if they could put the boat on the same scale as they used in boat control but the answer was no. They did check if both scales had the same calibration and it was confirmed that they did thus Graham was disqualified.

‘The only reasons that I can think of how this could have happened was that they fixed the boat after boat control informed us that the nose of the boat was skew,’ he told Road to Rio 2016.

‘I took it back to the manufacturer and got the nose straightened. The boat then went through boat control and was fine and on 12kg which is perfect.

‘I even put in an extra 10g just in case. After this the manufacturer buffed the boat to make it smooth where they had fixed it. This must have taken the 12g off the boat. Either it was due to the fixing of the nose or there was a difference between the two scales used.

‘I was told that a second appeal would not be allowed as it was already more than 20min after the race and there was not enough time between the heat and the semi final left for them to look at it. I was also told that there was nothing further to be done.’

So while one dream has been dashed, it seems Paul’s already daring to dream again… time for Tokyo!

SUPERSPORT Coverage

SuperSport will broadcast two 24-hour channels (SS13 and SS14) in High Definition for the duration of the Games with producers choosing the best of four feeds from Olympic Broadcast Services. What isn’t broadcast live will be broadcast on a delayed basis.

The popular Blitz channel will carry regular Paralympic news items, while the two TV channels will be available via streaming via www.supersport.com and the SuperSport and DStv Now apps, as well as social platforms and DStv Catch Up.

Daily two-hour highlights packages will be scheduled on SS Select and SS9.

TEAM SA APP for Paralympics.

Following on from the Olympic Games, Team SA has its own App for all South African sports supporters wanting to follow Team SA athletes at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

Loads of information can be found on the very easy to navigate App, bringing you results, competition schedules, athlete profiles, images and videos of the athletes plus more.

The App is free, users can download the App and it’s available globally. https://itunes.apple.com/za/app/teamsarise/id1133481695?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details…

Support your team and keep up to date on daily sporting events in Rio with #TeamSArise mobile.

Results from Friday 16 September 2016

Day 9 – 16 September

SWIMMING:

Heats:

Emily Gray – 100m Backstroke (finished 3rd in heat 1, time of 1:16.42, however failed to qualify for the finals)

ATHLETICS:

Dyan Buis 400m T38 (finished 2nd in heat 2, time of 54.66 and qualifies for the finals) Charl du Toit 400m T37 (GOLD in a time of 51.13)

Anrune Liebenberg 200m T47 (finished 4th in a time of 26.57 a seasons best)

Ndodomzi Ntutu 200m T12 (heats – finished 3rd in a time of 22.91 and qualifies for the finals) Hilton Langehoven 200m T12 (heats – finished 1st in a time of 22.27 and qualified for the finals)

CYCLING:

Craig Ridgard – Men’s road race C1-3 (despite being involved in a crash, he finished in 28th position in a time of 2:07.36)

Goldy Fuchs – Men’s road race T1-2 (finished in 9th place with a time of 57.13)

EQUESTRIAN:

Phillipa Johnson Individual Freestyle Test (Dressage-finished 6th on Lord Louis with 71.300 points and was eliminated)

Athletes in action on Friday 16 September 2016

(All times listed below are for South Africa)

SWIMMING:

Heats:

3.43pm Alani Ferreira – 100m Backstroke S13

00.05am Alani Ferreira – 100m Backstroke S13 (potential finals)

01.24 Alani Ferreira – 100m Backstroke S13 (potential medal presentation)

ATHLETICS:

3.10pm Zanele Situ – Discus F55 (final) 3.44pm Ilse Hayes – 400m T13 (final)

4.40pm Ilse Hayes – 400m T13 (potential medal ceremony) 10.59pm Dyan Buis – 400m T38 (final)

11.06pm Zanele Situ – Discus F55 (potential medal ceremony) 11.30pm Mpumulelo Mhlongo Long Jump T44 (final)

11.47pm Dyan Buis – 400m T38 (potential medal ceremony)

11.55pm Hilton Langenhoven/Ndodomzi 200m T12 (potential final)

00.42am Hilton Langenhoven/Ndodomzi 200m T12 (potential medal ceremony)

01.51 Mpumulelo Mhlongo Long Jump T44 (potential medal ceremony)

CYCLING:

2.30pm Dane Wilson – Men’s road race C4-5 (final)

9.00pm Dane Wilson – Men’s road race C4-5 (potential medal presentation)

Source: Sascoc

13 September 2016

MEDALS: 8

 Gold: 3

Kevin Paul – Swimming

Hilton Langenhoven – Athletics

Charl du Toit – Athletics

Silver: 2

Ilse Hayes – Athletics

Ntando Mahlangu – Athletics

Bronze: 3

Fanie van der Merwe – Athletics

Tyrone Pillay – Athletics

Zanele Situ – Athletics

Situ bags Bronze

Team SA flag bearer Zanele Situ won Bronze in the Women’s javelin, with a personal best throw of 17.90m (full report to follow)

Buis a hair’s breadth away from bagging bronze

By Mark Etheridge

The track clock couldn’t separate Dyan Buis and Brazilian opponent Edson Pinheiro in a frenetic T37 men’s 100-metre track final at the Rio Paralympics on Tuesday.

After an initial false start to the final it took a photo decision by the judges to deny 2012 Paralympic silver medallist Buis another medal as he and the Brazilian were both adjudged to have run 11.26 seconds. Buis didn’t have the best of starts but was flying at the finish and, beaten to bronze, it was the age-old question of: if only it had been a bit further…

But there was no denying the gold and silver medallists. China’s Jianwen Hu won in a world record 10.74 to dethrone reigning Paralympic champion Evan O’Hanldon who ran 10.98 for a season’s best.

‘The false start was a bit unveiling but it was good that I got my focus back quickly,’ said Buis, originally from Riversdale in the southern Cape but now living in Cape Town where he is an ordained minister.

‘The start wasn’t good but still I have to be satisfied. I came here to run for Go but the result didn’t show that. But what I do know is that I gave my best.

‘I was way behind to begin with and I thought there was still a chance to get through at the end for the medal, it was less than 0.01sec away from that medal but I’m still happy.’

Picture of Buis in action on Tuesday courtesy of Wessel Oosthuizen/SASPA

In another final it was London Paralympian Andrea Dalle Ave who also missed out on this occasion. In fact, he mirrored his London position with fifth in the F37 long jump final. He leapt a season’s best 5.86 as China’s Guangxu Shang won with a world record jump of 6.77. In London, Dalle Ave recorded a 6.02 for fifth.

Earlier, in one of the three athletics finals involving South Africans, Liezel Gouws ended seventh in the T37 final with a time of 1:09.08sec. That was slower than the 1:07.86 she ran in Monday’s heats but the North West teenager still looks to have a bright future.

And in the women’sT45/46/46 400-metre heats, it was Anruné Liebenberg who flew the South African flag proudly as she won the first of two heats.

Her time was 1min 01.79sec (second fastest of the qualifiers through to the final) and she’ll be encouraged with that after having undergone knee surgery earlier in the year. China’s Lu Li was quickest with a 1:00.77 win in the first heat.

Four years ago in London, Liebenberg won silver in this event. Big news in Rio on Tuesday was the non-starting of Cuba’s Yunidis Castillo, who was just sensational in London as she won 100, 200 and 400m gold in London with world records in all three.

Swimming didn’t produce much joy for the South Africans as Achmat Hassiem (58.25sec) was 18th fastest in S10 freestyle qualifying, as did Shireen Sapiro (1:08.90) in the same event for women in what looks to be her last race in the Paralympics.

Last swimmer in action was Emily Gray in the S9 50 freestyle and her 33.25 put her 20th in the rankings.

Team SA’s medal hunt continues on Tuesday

By Mark Etheridge

Buoyed by big Tyrone Pillay’s bronze in the shot put on Monday, Team South Africa continue their medal hunt on day six of the Rio Paralympics on Tuesday.

Already there are seven in the bag… gold is what they’re chasing as despite Pillay’s bagging of bronze, Team SA still slipped three places down the medal table to 19th after completion of the day’s events.

In late night action on Monday, South Africans saw action in two swimming finals but there were no medals this time, and Kevin Paul’s gold on the opening day of competition on Thursday, remains the old swimming medal of this campaign.

London Paralympic bronze medallists Hendri Herbst and Achmat Hassiem were in S11 and S10 action, the former in the 50m freestyle, the latter in the 100m butterfly.

Blind swimmer Herbst (diving off the blocks above) was sixth in a time of 27.11 while the man they call ‘Shark Boy’ was eighth in 1:00.96.

Track action saw Liezel Gouws and Dyan Buis both going through to their respective finals. Running the second of two heats, Gouws clocked 1:07.86 in the T38 400m, her preferred event, after she ran the 100m earlier in the Games. She goes into Tuesday’s final as sixth fastest qualifier.

Buis, who won three medals at the last Games, also featured in the second of two heats and was second in 11.29, a season’s best carrying him into the final as third fastest qualifier.

Ahead of him were China’s Jianwen Hu (who ran an impressive 10.93) and defending Paralympic champion Evan O’Hanlon, who, remember, ran 10.79 to take gold in London four years ago.

Also in action will be Andrea Dalle Ave in the T37 long jump final. He was fifth in this event at the last Paralympics with a leap of 6.02m but has since gone on to improve that to 6.05m, a continental record.

Tennis saw Lucas Sithole lost 0-6 3-6 to Aussie Dylan Alcott in the semi-final and he’s in bronze medal action on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, on the equestrian front, four-time Paralympian Philippa Johnson-Dwyer and Lord Louis have their second ride of the Games on Tuesday.

At the weekend they were in action and finished fifth.

She says: ‘I have to say I was very proud of Louis. We had continuous, what we thought was gun fire, but it turned out to be fireworks being let off at a soccer match next door to the arena through our ride but he didn’t once react!

‘It’s not his best test as there is a lot of stop, start which normally allows him to get long and behind my leg but he felt amazing. We finished fifth with 69.92%. The exciting part is that between us and the horse that finished second is only 0.4% so how’s that for close grouping?’ Tuesday sees the same combination taking on the Individual Championships.

Pictures of Herbst and Sithole, courtesy of Wessel Oosthuizen/SASPA

SUPERSPORT Coverage

SuperSport will broadcast two 24-hour channels (SS13 and SS14) in High Definition for the duration of the Games with producers choosing the best of four feeds from Olympic Broadcast Services. What isn’t broadcast live will be broadcast on a delayed basis.

The popular Blitz channel will carry regular Paralympic news items, while the two TV channels will be available via streaming via www.supersport.com and the SuperSport and DStv Now apps, as well as social platforms and DStv Catch Up.

Daily two-hour highlights packages will be scheduled on SS Select and SS9.

TEAM SA APP for Paralympics.

Following on from the Olympic Games, Team SA has its own App for all South African sports supporters wanting to follow Team SA athletes at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

Loads of information can be found on the very easy to navigate App, bringing you results, competition schedules, athlete profiles, images and videos of the athletes plus more.

The App is free, users can download the App and it’s available globally. https://itunes.apple.com/za/app/teamsarise/id1133481695?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details…

Support your team and keep up to date on daily sporting events in Rio with #TeamSArise mobile.

Results from Tuesday 13 September 2016

SWIMMING:

Heats:

Achmat Hassiem – 100m Freestyle S10 (finished in 5th place, time of 58.25 and failed to qualify for finals)

Shireen Shapiro – 100m Freestyle S10 (finished in 7th place, time of 1:08.90 an failed to qualify for finals)

Emily Gray – 50m Freestyle S9 (finished in 7th place, time of 33.91 and failed to qualify for the finals)

ATHLETICS:

Heats:

Anrune Liebenberg 400m T47 (finished 1st, time of 1:101.79 and qualified for the finals) Leizel Gouws (final) 400m T37 (finished 7th, time of 1:09.08)

Dyan Buis (final) 100m T38 (finished 4th, time of 11.26, beaten for Bronze, by one thousand of a second)

Andrea Dalle Ave (final) Long Jump T37 (finished 5th with a best jump of 5.86m) Zanele Situ – Javelin F54 final (BRONZE finished with a throw of 17.90m) EQUESTRIAN:

Phillipa Johnson – Individual Championship Test –Grade III Dressage Final (finished in 7th position on Lord Louis with 69.390 points)

Athletes in action on Wednesday 14 September 2016

(All times listed below are for South Africa)

SWIMMING:

No swimming today.

ATHLETICS:

4.07pm Zanele Situ – medal ceremony Javelin F54 5.27pm Ndodomzi Ntutu 100m T12 (heat)

5.50pm Ntando Mahlangu 100m T42 (heat) 10.30pm Zandile Nhlapo Shot Put F34 (final) 11.26pm Anrune Liebenberg 400m T47 (final)

00.24am (Thurs) Anrune Liebenberg 400m T47 (medal ceremony)

TENNIS:

5.00pm Lucas Sithole – Quad mixed singles Bronze medal match WT20-21

CANOEING:

2.15pm Graham Paull – Men’s Kayak single KL1 200m (heat) 3.22pm Potential semi final

CYCLING:

1.00pm Craig Ridgard – Road Time trial C2 (final) 2.00pm Roxy Burns – Road Time trial C1-3 (final) 2.17pm Ernst van Dyk – Road time trial H5 (final) 3.30pm Justine Asher – Road time trial H2-3 (final)

4.40pm Craig Ridgard – potential medal presentation – Road Time trial C2 5.00pm Roxy Burns – potential medal presentation Road Time trial C1-3 5.05pm Ernst van Dyk – potential medal presentation Road time trial H5 5.30pm Justine Asher – potential medal presentation Road time trial H2-3 6.56pm Dane Wilson – Road time trial C5 (final)

8.23pm Goldy Fuchs – Road time trial T1-2 (final)

9.15pm Dane Wilson – potential medal presentation Road time trial C5

9.35pm Goldy Fuchs – potential medal presentation Road time trial T1-2

ARCHERY:

3.15pm Shaun Anderson – Men’s individual compound – open 1/16 8.00pm Men’s individual compound – open 1/8

10.00pm Men’s individual compound – open 1/4 11.15pm Men’s individual compound – open- finals

00.20am (Thurs) Men’s individual compound – potential medal ceremony

Source: Sascoc

12 September 2016

MEDALS: 7

 Gold: 3

Kevin Paul – Swimming

Hilton Langenhoven – Athletics

Charl du Toit – Athletics

Silver: 2

Ilse Hayes – Athletics

Ntando Mahlangu – Athletics

Bronze 2

Fanie van der Merwe – Athletics

Tyrone Pillay – Athletics

Pillay picks up Team SA’s seventh medal at Rio

By Mark Etheridge

Big shot-putter Tyrone Pillay pushed Team South Africa’s medal tally to seven at the Rio Paralympics on Monday.

After a bumper day on Sunday with four medals (one gold, two silvers and a bronze) Pillay kept up the medal-winning momentum in the F42 category as he heaved the sphere a career-best 13.91 metres.

That comfortably eclipsed his previous best of 13.49m and was a new national and continental best.

Winner, and in a class of his own was Great Britain’s Aled Davis with a 15.97m on the day. It took a Paralympic record from Davies and a season’s best from Iran’s Salad Mohammedian (14.31) to keep Durban’s Pillay down on the lowest level of the podium.

Pillay, having turned 36 on 1 May this year, is not the youngest member of the SA team but it showed that his birthday rather aptly falls on Worker’s Day annually!

Also fittingly, it was in Rio earlier this year that his previous best hurl had been achieved.

On paper he may have not been favoured to podium but Pillay has now painted his name into Paralympic history. ‘The guys didn’t realise I could throw this far and I came out guns blazing. Man, I respect all those guys, they’ve helped me push through this far.

‘Alex is just an awesome guy, awesome competitor…’

Photo Credits: Martin Potgieter

There was also respect, huge respect, to the people behind the scenes, some of them no longer with us.

‘I lost my dad Teddy 14 years ago, my mom Suzy has still got cancer.. this is for them, and the whole of South Africa, especially for those who believed in me.’

And despite his ‘advanced’ age, Pillay has no thoughts of putting his shot away. ‘No, this makes me want to go on. I just love this sport too much. I want to grow this sport and get a whole heap of youngsters coming through.’

In swimming action earlier in the day it was 2012 Paralympic bronze medallist Hendri Herbst who ended second in his S11 50m freestyle heat to go through to the late-evening final.

He was joined by Achmat Hassiem who was sixth in his S10 100m butterfly heat to sneak through to the final as the slowest of eight swimmers.

Not so fortunate were Alani Ferreira and 2012 Paralympian Emily Gray.

Ferreira swam her fourth and penultimate eventsin the pool for Team SA when she went off in the S13 400-metres freestyle. She swam heat one of two and ended seventh in 5min 18.06sec. That put her 13th of 14 swimmers.

Then Gray was in action in the S9 100m freestyle and ended eighth and last in heat three with a time of 1:10.58 more than 5sec off the qualifying time for the final.

Team South Africa remained 16th on the medals table with those seven medals, despite Pillay’s performance… gold is what they seek to move higher and higher!

It’s six of the best for Team SA in Rio

By Mark Etheridge

 South Africa woke up on Monday to anything but a blue Monday as Team South Africa celebrated six of the best medals in Rio de Janeiro.

After a super productive afternoon on the track where first Charl du Toit and Fanie van der Merwe won gold and bronze in the T37 100m final and Ilse Hayes then sealed silver in the T13 100m it was up to teenager Ntando Mahlangu to come to the party.

And come to the party he did as he raced to silver in the men’s T42 final in the evening session of athletics.

We use the term ‘men’ lightly here as let’s remember, Ntando is just 14 years old, and been fitted with prostheses for less than four years!

The Mpumalanga athlete motored to a time of 23.77 seconds, only being beaten by British Paralympic sensation Richard Whithead (23.39).

It still hadn’t quite sunk in as to what he’d done on the biggest stage of all. ‘Wow, it’s a very great feeling and I just want to thank SA for allowing me to have this opportunity. Thanks to all the people back home who helped me get here.

‘As for the final, everyone is just running his best hey, I’m happy with my result, I ran a personal best so really can’t expect much more.’

And it certainly looks like the world of para-athletics can look forward a lot more from Mahlangu. ‘Hey, I just pray every day for God to keep me in his eyes so…Tokyo 2020 here I come.

‘I never really expected a medal but I knew if did my best there was a chance.’

Sixteenth on the medals table after Du Toit’s gold, Van der Merwe’s bronze and Hayes’ silver, Team SA consolidated that spot with Mahlangu’s medal.

At the 2012 Games, Team SA ended 18th on the medals table with 29 medals, eight of them gold.

Away from the track and shooter Khone van Zeuner ended 27th in the P3 Precision division with 273-3x points and in the P3 Rapid he ended 20th with 548-11x points, failing to reach the final. There was also disappointment for dressage rider Philippa Johnson and her horse Lord Louis, the four-time Paralympian ending fifth in qualification with 69.921 and not qualifying for a medal. Swimmer Kevin Paul, SA’s first gold medallist at these Games, ended sixth in the S10 Individual Medley with a time of 2:16.25 as Ukraine’s Denys Dubrov exacted revenge for Paul beating him in last week’s SB10 breaststroke final.

On to Monday’s action and in the pool Alani Ferreira continues her Paralympics debut with her fourth event in Rio, London bronze medallist Hendri Herbst is in action, as is fellow 2012 bronze medallist Achmat Hassiem and Emily Gray is the four swimmer in what she has hinted will beher last Paralympics.

Athletics heat activity sees Liezel Gouws in her favourite event, the T37 400m, while Dyan Buis is in T38 action, the event where he won silver four years ago. One final has SA participation, big Tyrone Pillay in the F42 shot put.

Said Durban’s Pillay: ‘So it’s finally “go-time”. I can’t wait to go out there and give of my best. Send all the good vibes and energy… proudly South African.

‘I feel great, and as relaxed and prepared as I’ll ever be. Obviously on the day anything can happen and it’s not practical to put a mark on distance but training has been going great and I know what I’m capable of. It’s now time to put it on the big stage.

‘I do this for all the people back home and loving all the support we’re receiving from home.’ And then there’s tennis where Lucas Sithole teams up with Aussie Dylan Alcott in the Quad Singles mixed semi-final.

SUPERSPORT Coverage

SuperSport will broadcast two 24-hour channels (SS13 and SS14) in High Definition for the duration of the Games with producers choosing the best of four feeds from Olympic Broadcast Services. What isn’t broadcast live will be broadcast on a delayed basis.

The popular Blitz channel will carry regular Paralympic news items, while the two TV channels will be available via streaming via www.supersport.com and the SuperSport and DStv Now apps, as well as social platforms and DStv Catch Up.

Daily two-hour highlights packages will be scheduled on SS Select and SS9.

TEAM SA APP for Paralympics.

Following on from the Olympic Games, Team SA has its own App for all South African sports supporters wanting to follow Team SA athletes at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

Loads of information can be found on the very easy to navigate App, bringing you results, competition schedules, athlete profiles, images and videos of the athletes plus more.

The App is free, users can download the App and it’s available globally. https://itunes.apple.com/za/app/teamsarise/id1133481695?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details…

Support your team and keep up to date on daily sporting events in Rio with #TeamSArise mobile.

Results from Mon 12 September 2016

 SWIMMING:

Heats:

Alani Ferreira – 400m Freestyle S13 (finished 7th, time of 5:18.06 and did not qualify for finals) Henri Herbst – 50m Freestyle S11 (finished 2nd, time of 26.95 and qualified for the finals) Achmat Hassiem 100m Butterfly S10 (finished 5th, time 1:00.40 and qualified for the finals) Emily Gray 100m freestyle S9 (finished 8th, time 1:10.58 and did not qualify for finals)

Finals:

Henri Herbst – 50m Freestyle S11 (finished 6th, time of 27.11)

Achmat Hassiem 100m Butterfly S10 final (finished 8th, time of 1:00.96)

ATHLETICS:

Heats:

Leizel Gouws 400m T37 (finished 3rd, time of !:07.86 and qualified for finals) Tyrone Pillay Final shot put F42 (BRONZE with a throw of 13.91)

Dyan Buis 100m T38 (finished 2nd, time of 11.29 and qualified for the finals) TENNIS:

Lucas Sithole – Quad’s singles mixed WT13-16 (lost 0-6, 3-6 to Dylan Alcott in the semi final and will now play for a Bronze medal on Wednesday)

Athletes in action on Tuesday 13 September 2016

(All times listed below are for South Africa)

SWIMMING:

Heats:

3.26pm Achmat Hassiem – 100m Freestyle S10 3.33pm Shireen Shapiro – 100m Freestyle S10 4.29pm Emily Gray – 50m Freestyle S9 Potential finals:

11.11pm Achmat Hassiem – 100m Freestyle S10 11.17pm Shireen Shapiro – 100m Freestyle S10

00.33am (Wed) Achmat Hassiem – potential medal presentation – 100m Freestyle S10 00.41am (Wed) Shireen Shapiro – potential medal presentation – 100m Freestyle S10 00.55am (Wed) Emily Gray – 50m Freestyle S9

2.07am (Wed) Emily Gray – potential medal presentation – 50m Freestyle S9

ATHLETICS:

3.00pm Anrune Liebenberg (heats) 400m T47 3.14pm Leizel Gouws (final) 400m T37 3.40pm Dyan Buis (final) 100m T38

3.50pm Andrea Dalle Ave (final) Long Jump T37

4.07pm Leizel Gouws – potential medal ceremony 400m T37 4.42pm Dyan Buis – potential medal ceremony 100m T38

5.38pm Andrea Dalle Ave –potential medal ceremony Long Jump T37 10.33pm Zanele Situ – Javelin F54 final

00.33am (Wed) Ndodomzi Ntutu (heat) 100m T12

EQUESTRIAN:

7.00pm Phillipa Johnson – Individual Championship Test –Grade III Dressage Final 10.05pm potential medal ceremony.

Source: Sascoc