It was a glorious first experience for South Africa's Jane van der Merwe, who not only won silver at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix, but also broke an African record.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (February 19, 2024) — Jane van der Merwe added another moment to South Africa's record-breaking run with a brilliant silver medal in her first appearance at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix.
Representing the country and the university (University of Johannesburg), Sports Science Master's student Yane fulfilled her desire to reach the podium while setting a new African record.
In the discus throw class F44 (lower extremity deficiency category), Yane became a rising star with a power throw of an incredible height of 31.88 meters. Despite narrowly missing out on the gold medal to Norway, Yane's silver medal came with the nice bonus of setting a new African record.
While the results weren't exactly what the para-athlete had hoped for (as well as for serious athletes, where gold medals tend to be the top prize), her university, city and country were proud of her accomplishments. I'm incredibly proud and it makes us even more excited for the Paralympics.
Jahn has a strong record with notable moments, including finishing in the top 10 in shot put and discus at last year's World Championships and being part of the South African squad that represented South Africa at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. There is.
She is also the African record holder in the T44 discus throw of 31.66 meters and captain of the UJ disability student sports team.
Yane humbly says: I am looking forward to the Paralympic Games to be held in Paris, France this year. ”