South African long-distance runner Precious Mashele delivered in spectacular fashion on Tuesday to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics at a small elite meeting in Durban.
Turning out on the final day of the qualifying period, Mashele won the men's 5 000m race in 13:11.65 at Kings Park Athletics Stadium.
Mashele took seven seconds off his previous personal best of 13:18.70, which had been set in Cape Town a few weeks earlier.
He also dipped under the Olympic qualifying standard of 13:13.50, booking his place for this month's Games, scheduled from 23 July to 8 August.
The final national team for the Olympics will be announced by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee in due course.
"All the hard work that has been put in over the months has finally paid off for Precious. We have seen him work himself out endlessly in training and in competition. Whenever he failed, he wouldn't give up. He would rise and try again," said James Moloi, the President of Athletics South Africa.
"Well done to him and his coach for this well-deserved achievement. They really wanted this qualification and he is now going to Tokyo. To those athletes who have not managed to qualify and have now missed out, we say that it is not the end of the world, and there will be other Olympics to go for.
"We also thank all athletes and their coaches who made use of competitions that were provided at the various ASA provinces when Covid 19 continued to disrupt national competitions. Most used them to qualify."