Olympian gold medalists Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya are among the nominees for the 2016 South African Sport Star of the Year Award.
Van Niekerk won gold in the 400-meter track event in Rio while fellow athlete Semenya won the women’s 800m.
The other nominee for the Sports Star of the Year is Proteas cricketer Kagiso Rabada.
Van Niekerk’s coach, ‘Tannie Ans’ Botha is also up for an award in the Coach of the Year category.
The awards will take place at the Sand du Plessis Theatre in Mangaung, Free State.
Eighteen categories will be contested, including Sportsman of the Year, Sportsman of the Year with a disability, Sportswoman of the Year, Sportswoman of the Year with a disability, and Team of the Year, among others.
Six Paralympic athletes are in contention for the Sportsman of the Year with a Disability and Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability. They are Zanele Situ, Anruné Liebenberg, Ilse Hayes, Charl du Toit, Dyan Buis and Reinhardt Hamman. Suzanne Ferreira, who was one of Team SA’s coaches at the Rio Paralympics, is also up for nomination in the Coach of the Year category.
South Africa’s sporting public will also get to be involved, by voting in the People’s Choice of the Year award. The public can vote for their favorite sport star by SMS.\
See the entire list here.
