OBAKENG MELETSE
Jo-Ane van Dyk’s Tokyo disappointment returned fruitful results three years later as she roared back to secure a silver medal in the final of the women’s javelin at the Paris Olympic Games on Saturday night.
Van Dyk’s second-place finish ensured South Africa wrapped up their Olympic journey with a hard-fought six medals comprising one gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
Coming into the Olympics, the underrated Van Dyk was quietly confident after her double gold medal wins at the African Games in Accra, Ghana and Africa Championships in Douala, Cameroon earlier this year.
A trip to Paris came just at the right time as she hit top form just when it mattered most. Her qualifying throw of 64.22m – a personal best – saw her ranked fourth among all the finalists and earn a spot in the final.
“I wasn’t expecting it, but I knew if everything went according to plan I might get it and it happened,” she told SABC Sport.
“The plan was to see (myself) through qualification and get into the final, and to win a medal. I didn’t exceed my expectations, that was what I was aiming for.
“You dream about it, but it’s a little bit in the wildest dreams and I’m grateful that everything went the way it should.”
Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi set the tone for the rest of the finalists as she powered to a season’s best throw of 65.80m, having qualified seventh overall with a throw of 62.58.
Van Dyk took inspiration from being an underdog and her first two throws of 59.72 and 61.72 showed gradual improvement, but it was her third throw of 63.93m that sealed the deal and secured her first Olympic medal.
“I knew there were a lot of competitors that have thrown much further than I did. In javelin, up until the last throw you can’t be sure of anything ‒ I’ve seen people drop from first to fourth ‒ and I knew it was going to be a fight until the end.
“I think Friday when the guys won silver, I heard someone say that we have one more medal coming. They were referring to the 4x100m (men’s) relay team, and I was like, but I’m still competing. So I was like maybe I should also win a medal.”
The 26-year-old Potchefstroom-based athlete carried on South Africa’s success in the javelin at the Games, following in the footsteps of Sunette Viljoen, who bagged a silver medal at the Rio Games in 2016 with a throw of 64.92.
“It means a lot for throwers and field events in South Africa, also for women in the country. For me to be wearing this medal and being on the podium is amazing to follow in her footsteps and I hope I will be laying more footsteps for the younger generation to follow as well.”
Elsewhere, South African wrestler Nicolaas de Lange lost the men’s 97kg freestyle repechage match 5-3 against Ukraine’s Murazi McHedlidze yesterday, missing out on a chance to battle it out for a bronze medal. The 22-year-old also suffered a 12-2 loss against Georgia’s Givi Matcharashvili earlier in the competition.