South African long jumping will finally have a female competitor at the Olympic Games after Lynique Prinsloo met the qualifying mark at the South African University Championships in Polokwane on Saturday.
Prinsloo left the best for the last as she leapt eight centimetres further than the required distance with her last attempt of 6.78 metres.
Thanks to her effort, Prinsloo will be the first female long jumper to represent the country at the Games since Karen Botha in Barcelona 1992.
“Before this I just needed a centimetre to qualify; now I will finally realise my Olympic dream. It is amazing and all I’ve ever wanted,” an emotional Prinsloo said.
“I was constantly close to the barrier but I just couldn’t get over it.”
Prinsloo had been the model of consistency this season getting painstakingly close to the 6.70m target in Germiston at the end of February with a jump of 6.69.
Her effort from Saturday is the fourth best so far this year, and within three centimetres of her personal best from 2013.
At the 2013 South African Track and Field Championships in Stellenbosch, Prinsloo improved her personal best by more than 20 centimetres with her 6.81m leap which is the third best distance by a South African.
Prinsloo went on to represent South Africa at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow where she failed to move past the first round with a best jump of 6.17m.
The 25-year-old said her personal best from three years ago was somewhat of a fluke, and she believed she was now a much better and more consistent athlete than in 2013.
“It was a good jump but my average was 6.30 at that stage, compared to now where I am easily averaging 6.60s and that is all that matters,” Prinsloo said.
The athlete heaped praise on Emmarie Fouche, who has been her mentor since last year September.
After her Olympic qualifying jump, Prinsloo and Fouche hugged as they celebrated the feat on a blustery day in Limpopo.
“I know how difficult it is, everything has to work in your favour on the day, so we are delighted and relieved,” Fouche said.
“I think from now on the big jumps will come, the ice had been broken, and she'll definitely jump a lot further.”
Fouche also coaches Commonwealth Games silver medallist Zarck Visser, who is among five men’s long jumpers that have qualified for Rio with only the top three to be selected for the final team.
Maryke Britz, who finished in second place behind Prinsloo in Polokwane, leapt to a new personal best of 6.56m, while Samantha Pretoria bagged the bronze with her jump of 6.18. - The Star