Sportsman of the Year nominees are all worthy | News24

Over the past year, athletes from the Free State showed the world why some of the most prestigious sporting legends hail from this province.

At this year’s Free State Sport Stars Awards, a new athlete will take on the title of Sportsman of the Year for their achievements on the track or field over the past year.

The winner will follow in the footsteps of cricket champion Gerald Coetzee, who won the award in 2023.

The sportstars event is presented by Central24 and the University of the Free State (UFS). Standard Bank is the main sponsor of the event.

• Nominees for Sportsman of the Year 2024 are:Robert Summers (badminton): Summers moved quickly with the racket and the ball and won a bronze medal at this year’s African Games.

The 2024 Games took place in Accra, Ghana, where Summers was part of a men’s doubles pair. As a singles player, he reached the round of 16 and reached the quarterfinals in the mixed doubles category.

Summers also competed at the All Africa Championships in Cairo, Egypt, where he reached the round of 16 in the mixed doubles and the quarterfinals in the men’s doubles.

On home soil, Summers and his men’s doubles partner finished second at the South African International Tournament in late 2023.

• Caden Kakora (badminton): Kakora made sure his trophy cabinet was well filled last year. At international level, at the African Games in Accra, Ghana, he won a bronze medal in mixed doubles and reached the quarterfinals in both the men’s singles and doubles.

At both the Botswana International and Zambia International, Kakora won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles. At the Uganda International Tournament, he moved up a level and won a silver medal in the mixed doubles. He achieved the same at the Kampala International Tournament. At the latter, he took home a bronze medal in the men’s singles category. A gold medal was one of two he won at the South African International Tournament when he won it in the men’s doubles. Kakora also won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles.

• Barnard may be a little older, but he has no problem winning gold.

Not only did he win a gold medal at the 2024 World Archery Championships in the veteran category, he also improved the record he had set since 2016.

This year’s championships were held in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil. Barnard improved the long-standing record of 540/560 to 541/560. Barnard also won a gold medal as part of the South African Bowhunter team and a bronze medal in the Champion of Nations team category.

• Dane Piedt (cricket): A more genuine passion for your country is hard to find anywhere else. In a bid to qualify for the South Africa A (SA-A) team, Piedt left his life in America to return to his beloved South Africa and become an option for the Test cricket team.

In 2023, back in South Africa, with the Knights in Bloemfontein, he received a phone call from America, telling him that he had qualified to play for the national team.

South Africa won the toss and he impressed the coaches so much during an SA-A match against the West Indies A team in November 2023 that he was picked for the Proteas in 2024 and represented his country in four matches throughout the year. Three of those matches were against New Zealand and the West Indies.

• Mthi Mthimkulu (athlete): Mthimkulu made a splash this year when he and his mixed 4x400m relay team won a gold medal at the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) African Senior Championships in Douala, Cameroon. With a finishing time of 3:13.12, they also bettered the Athletics South Africa (ASA) record for the event, which was set earlier this season. The previous time was 3:14.97.

The athlete was also part of the mixed 4x400m relay team that represented South Africa at the World Athletics Relays, which took place in the Bahamas earlier in 2024.