Sprint sensation Bayanda Walaza is one of South Africa's strongest medal hopefuls for LA2028 should he remain injury-free.

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World Athletics has officially raised the bar for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, unveiling a demanding qualification framework that significantly shrinks direct access. Under the newly approved system, roughly 40% of Olympic places across track and field will be awarded via automatic entry standards, with the remaining 60% allocated through World Athletics ranking points.

The automatic marks leave virtually no room for error. The men’s 100m cutoff drops from 10.00s in Paris down to 9.93, the 200m has tightened to 19.95, and the 400m benchmark sits at a blistering 44.40.

On the women’s side, the 800m threshold has been trimmed to 1:57.00, the 100m hurdles standard is down to 12.58, and the women's javelin requirement stands at 63.80m.

While those marks demand career-best form from competitors worldwide, South Africa’s blend of established Olympic medallists, rapidly maturing young guns, and raw dark horses offers multiple routes to book passage to California. 

The Qualification standards for the LA28 Olympic Games. #LA2028 https://t.co/YyjajLFfHG

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Youth meets experience in sprints

Leading the charge is a potent short-sprint wave headlined by Bayanda Walaza. A Paris 4x100m relay silver medallist and double-gold winner at the World U20 Championships, the 20-year-old speedster joined Akani Simbine in elite territory by dipping under 9.90 seconds twice in 2026, highlighted by twin 9.89s blasts in Slovakia and Serbia. Having already demonstrated the ability to comfortably beat the 9.93s automatic standard, Walaza enters the qualification window as South Africa’s most explosive individual contender.

He is flanked by another young sprinter, Bradley Nkoane, whose 9.95s personal best puts him two-hundredths off the target, and Simbine himself. While the national record holder will turn 34 in 2028, his unmatched consistency and elite Diamond League pedigree provide an ironclad floor through the ranking quota even if age trims fractions off his 9.82 peak.

Over 200m, Commonwealth Games champion Sinesipho Dambile has already proven he possesses the gears to beat the system, with his 19.74 lifetime best sitting comfortably inside the 19.95 requirement.

Sinesipho Dambile grabbed Commonwealth Games gold in the men's 200m in a breakthrough season.

Image: Nic Bothma / Team SA

One-lap dominance, hurdles edge, and field royalty

South Africa’s one-lap depth is equally formidable, boasting three men capable of running sub-44.5 times. Zakithi Nene confirmed his place among the world’s upper echelon with a 43.89 blitz, while Lythe Pillay has dropped his personal best to 44.32, placing both runners well inside the direct 44.40 barrier.

Joining them as a genuine frontline contender is 19-year-old sensation Leendert Koekemoer. After taking bronze at the World U20 Championships, Koekemoer lowered his mark to an eye-catching 44.52s. At just 0.12 seconds adrift of the direct mark, he has bypassed long-term prospect status to become an immediate threat for an individual Olympic lane.

On the women’s side, South Africa's medal-winning pedigree shines through Olympic javelin silver medallist Jo-Ané van Dyk. With the LA28 automatic entry mark set at 63.80m, Van Dyk operates in familiar territory: her 63.93m silver-medal effort in Paris and 64.22m lifetime best both clear the target. Backed by regular podium contention on the Diamond League circuit, she remains an outright front-runner for direct entry while holding a massive ranking cushion.

On the track, Prudence Sekgodiso backed up her Paris 800m final appearance with a 1:56.83 personal best, ducking beneath the 1:57.00 threshold. In the sprint hurdles, Marioné Fourie’s 12.59s season best puts her within one-hundredth of the 12.58s entry mark, with her consistency virtually assuring a spot through world ranking points.

Relays: SA’s golden insurance

If individual entries run into a bottleneck, the relay programme remains South Africa’s ultimate safety net. World Athletics confirmed that the top 14 finishing nations at the 2028 World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas will qualify automatically for Los Angeles. Backed by an African record of 37.57s and an abundance of sub-10 sprinters, the men’s 4x100m unit will be favored to punch its ticket on day one, while a 4x400m pool featuring Nene, Pillay, and Koekemoer ensures the green and gold will arrive in California with real medal ambitions.