SuperSport is set to screen live this year’s IAAF World Champions slated to take part in London from August 4 to 13.
African viewers will be able to watch the games across multiple SuperSport channels on the DStv and GOtv platforms.
DStv customers will enjoy a slice of the action on SS8 HD, Maximo and Maximo 3 while GOtv customers will enjoy the sports events on Select 3.
In the last five years, African sprinting has gradually emerged from the vast shadows of middle-and-long distance dominance the continent is famed for. In the 15 editions of the world championships to date, Africa boasts just eight sprint gold medals, a far cry from the plus-80 amassed in middle and long distance races.
At the centre of the sprint boom has been the likes of Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare, Muriel Ahoure from Ivory Coast, Kenya’s Nicholas Bett and Boniface Mucheru; Wayde van Niekerk and Akani Simbine from South Africa and Botswana’s Isaac Makwala, among others.
As the number one and number two ranked athletes in the world in the 200m, Makwala and Van Niekerk lead the charge in the quest to dethrone Usain Bolt in this event which the world’s fastest man won’t be part of. Bolt has confirmed that he’ll only compete in the 100m and the 4x100m relay in what is his athletics swansong.
The two could also be part of an African podium sweep in the 400m with Makwala’s compatriots, Baboloki Thebe and Karabo Sibanda, set to be serious medal contenders in the one-lap race. With Bett unable to defend his 400m hurdles title, Kenya’s first-ever sprint gold in the championships, compatriot and Olympic silver medalist Mucheru will be favourite to bag the gold.
The supreme form displayed by the likes of Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, Helen Obiri, David Rudisha, Nijel Amos (Botswana), Caster Semenya (South Africa) and Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia) in the past few weeks should see Africa continue its dominance in the endurance races.