New African record for Sheryl at World Para-athletics Champs

Date: 28 July 2023 By: Andries van Zyl

Louis Trichardt paralympian medallist Sheryl James arrived back in South Africa last week after competing at the Paris World Para-athletic Championships in France, and although she had no podium finishes, she still did exceptionally well.

Sheryl returned from the 2023 World Para-athletic Championships as the new holder of the African record in the 400m race in the T37 class (for para-athletes who have coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia, and athetosis). She attained the fourth position in the 400m with a personal best time of 63.38 seconds. She was also fourth in the 100m, with a season's best time of 13.57 seconds. She was positioned fourth in the 100m for the first time. In the 200m, she finished fifth with a season’s best time of 27.64 seconds. Most importantly, however, Sheryl secured herself a paralympic slot for South Africa for the 2024 Paralympics, which is the important part of the world championships. Team SA has secured seven slots in Paris so far, and a lot of work still needs to be done before Paris 2024.

"Thank the Lord for his goodness," said Sheryl’s mom, Sandy. She also thanked all those who helped Sheryl get to the world champs in France. "Sheryl has so many people to thank. She spent more than a month in Pretoria with coach Cathy Landsberg, and this really paid off, improving her form tremendously from where she was at the beginning of the season. Her physio, Elmien van Der Goot, and body-training coach, Karen Purdon, need special mention. Too many names to mention them all, but she would like everyone in her community here in Limpopo to know that she really appreciates all the messages of support and encouragement, and she thanks the Lord for his grace that enables her to pursue the vision of the development of para-sport in our province and country," said Sandy.

As for the immediate future, Sandy said Sheryl was hard at work. "Her training continues as she focuses on fine-tuning and improving various aspects of her form in preparation for hopefully attending the 2024 Paris Paralympics," said Sandy.

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Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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