Dylan Bettencourt
The last time South Africa had a finalist in the shot put event, 21-year-old Kyle Blignaut was only a year old. The last Olympian to compete in the men’s shot put finals was Janus Robberts in Sydney in 2000.
Blignaut, on his Olympic debut, has given South Africa a glimmer of hope for a track and field medal as the Tokyo Olympics nears its end. He threw a shot of 20.97m to gain qualification into Thursday’s final.
“It was tough but I’m super psyched to get into a final in my first major championship,” he said.
“I feel like this is a stepping stone for the rest of my career. I’m just going to enjoy the final and hopefully with this experience I can get a medal in the next one.”
Blignaut is not ruling himself out of the medals despite being the underdog.
“Anything can happen. Hopefully I can do us proud and get a big shot out there and be in contention for a medal. You never know,” he said.
He said he is taking everything in for the next Olympics.
The men’s shot put final is set for Thursday at 4:05am.
Image source: @BusinessLIVE
