Sinesipho Dambile lived up to his top billing as he raced to victory in the men’s 200m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Friday night.
If any of his rivals thought they had a chance coming off the bend, he quickly dispelled that notion as he forged ahead to cross the line first in 19.96, comfortably ahead of Nigerian Udodi Onwuzurike (20.09) and Christopher Taylor of Jamaica (20.11).
His medal was one of two for Team South Africa on Friday, with a bronze coming from Pretoria-based judoka Donne Breytenbach in the women’s -57kg division.
Dambile’s triumph was South Africa’s first in the 200m at the Commonwealth Games and the first sprint crown since Akani Simbine took the 100m at Gold Coast 2018.
It was also the first men’s 200m medal since Cardiff 1958 and leaves the men’s 400m as the only men’s sprint event under the Commonwealth banner not won by a South African.
Dambile, who lifted his first senior national title in 2022, struggled with injury before returning with force last year, dipping under 20 seconds for the first time and making the world championship final in Tokyo.
This year the 24-year-old lowered his personal best to 19.74, and he opened his account in Glasgow with a 19.82.
As a junior, Damile finished third in the 200m at the 2021 U-20 world championships in Nairobi and was part of the 4x100m team that claimed gold in an age-group world record that year.
Dambile is expected to return to the track in the 4x100m alongside Simbine on Saturday, the final day of the athletics competition.
Breytenbach scored an early ippon to claim her bronze, taking just 33 seconds to secure the victory over Marie Begue of Mauritius to cap a day in which she had two other fights.
The 24-year-old ousted Sylvia Nawila of Zambia by ippon in 35 seconds in the quarterfinals but then was beaten by India’s Yamini Mourya, also by ippon, in the semifinals.
Team South Africa is lying seventh on the medal table with 25 medals, seven of them gold.
Douw Smit was lying third in the men’s javelin going into the final sixth round with a best throw of 82.88m, but he was overhauled by two men and pushed down to fifth place.
Liezel Gouws finished seventh in the women’s long jump T38 final with a best effort of 4.38m.
Earlier, the Proteas beat Uganda 62-54 to secure fifth spot in the netball competition to reverse their placings from four years ago.
In the bowls, Paul White and Jason Evans were the only South Africans to register a win, beating Kenya 5-4 9-3 in a men’s pair group match.
And in the track cycling, Mitchell Sparrow was unable to advance beyond the first-round keirin repechages, finishing third in his race.
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