After a superb first week at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Team South Africa entered the second week in 19th place on the medals table, with a haul of 10 medals, comprising two golds, and four each of silver and bronze. There are still a number of gold medal hopefuls in the team. Here’s the list of who to keep an eye out for this week.

Athletics

Oscar Pistorius, having been beaten into second place in the T44 200m event, will be looking to defend his Paralympic titles in the T44 100m and 400m sprints. Round 1 of the 100m is on Wednesday at 19:01, while the final is the following evening at 21:16. His showpiece event however is the 400m, and one he is expected to win as he has put more emphasis in his training into that distance. He will compete in round 1 on Friday at 21:20 and the final on Saturday at 21:36.

While it is easy to be conscious only of Pistorius, one should not forget his Paralympic Village roommate Arnu Fourie, who will also compete in the T44 100m race. Fourie broke the T44 world record in the 200m during the final, however he finished fourth overall. For those who are confused about that, the T43 athletes (double-amputees such as Pistorius) competed in the T44 final and finished in the top three spots.

52-year old Michael Louwrens will compete in the F57/58 shot put final on Tuesday at 10:00, while Ntombizanele Situ will look to get a medal in the F54/55/56 javelin throw on Wednesday at 19:00.

Dyan Buis, the man from the tiny Western Cape town of Riversdale who has already won silver in the T38 100m event, is looking to two events this week. On Wednesday at 19:05, he takes part in the T38 long jump, and on Friday he will be competing in the T38 200m round 1 at 10:31 and hopefully graduating to Saturday’s final at 11:17. Samkelo Radebe, another medal hopeful, will be in the T46 100m round 1 and final, both on Thursday at 11:38 and 20:04 respectively.

Hilton Langenhoven cruised through to the T12 400m semifinals, to take place on Wednesday at 11:25. The final is on Friday at 19:00. Teboho Mokgalagadi, fresh from his silver medal in the T35 100m, will commence his quest for a medal in the equivalent 200m event on Wednesday at 21:55 in round 1, and then in the final on Thursday at 20:31.

Jonathan Ntutu, who took bronze in the T13 100m last week, takes part in the T13 200m round 1 on Thursday at 11:03, and the final on Friday at 19:18. Following her bronze effort in the T46 200m sprint, Anrune Liebenberg will line up in the T46 400m race on Saturday at 19:52.

Finally, the men’s T42/46 4 x 100m relay team, featuring Pistorius, Fourie and Radebe, will be looking for gold on Wednesday night at 22:18.

Swimming


Charl Bouwer of South Africa, Ihar Boki of Belarus and Timothy Antalfy of Australia compete in the Men’s 100m Freestyle S13 final on Day 4 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, in which Bouwer won silver

Natalie du Toit is competing in seven events, and is expected to feature in all of the finals, namely the S9 400m freestyle (Tuesday 18:10), S9 50m freestyle (Wednesday 20:30), SM9 200m individual medley (Thursday at 17:38), and the S9 100m freestyle (Friday 17:37).

Charles Bouwer set a new African record of 52.97 in the S13 men’s 100m freestyle, earning himself a silver medal to go with his gold in she 50m S13 freestyle. He should also feature in the following finals: S13 400m freestyle (Tuesday at 20:45) and SM13 200m individual medley (Friday at 20:16).

Watch out too for Kevin Paul in the S10 400m freestyle on Wednesday at 9:57 (heats) and 17:48 (final), the S10 100m freestyle on Thursday at 11:33 (heats) and 20:20 (final) and the SB9 100m breaststroke on Saturday at 9:30 (heats) and 17:30 (final). Achmat Hassiem, who won a bronze in the S10 100m butterfly, will also compete with Kevin Paul in the first two events above.

Hand Cycling

Ernst van Dyk will compete in the individual H4 time trial on Wednesday at 15:10 and the H4 road race on Friday at 16:30. Both races are held at at Brand’s Hatch.

www.thesouthafrican.co.uk

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