SA’s last hope of a fourth medal at the Tokyo Olympics faded quietly when Stephen Mokoka quit a little past the halfway mark of the men’s marathon on Sunday morning.
Gritty Gelant was the only of the SA trio to reach the finish line, crossing in 34th place in 2:16:43.
But that was a distant memory on Sunday. Even Team SA’s three medals from the opening week of this showpiece seemed an aeon ago. From Saturday last weekend it was nine long days of vain hope, the longest medal drought since the 10 days SA waited for long-jumper Khotso Mokoena to secure the country’s only gong of Beijing 2008.
Akani Simbine came the closest with his fourth spot in the men’s 100m, followed by Kyle Blignaut’s sixth in the shot put.
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