Emile Erasmus (born 3 April 1992) is a South African male track and field

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

er who specialises in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

. He holds a personal best of 10.01 seconds for the distance. His first international medal came at the

2011 African Junior Athletics Championships The 2011 African Junior Athletics Championships were held at the University of Botswana Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana from 12 to 15 May. It was the tenth edition of the continental athletics tournament for African athletes aged 19 years or younger ...

, where he won a bronze in the 100 m, while his compatriot Gideon Trotter took gold. He undertook a degree in civil engineering at the University of Pretoria and continued to train under coach Frans van Rooyen. Standing at , he admired Usain Bolt for proving that height was not necessarily an impediment to speed. Erasmus improved his 100 m best to 10.23 seconds in the 2014 season, placing third at the South African Athletics Championships. He repeated that feat at the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and 2016 national championships, earning him a place in the national team for the

2016 African Championships in Athletics The 20th African Championships in Athletics was held in Durban, South Africa from 22 to 26 June 2016. It was the second time that Durban and South Africa hosted this competition. 720 athletes from 43 African national federations participated. Meda ...

.Emile Erasmus
IAAF. Retrieved 2018-04-15. Leading off the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

team with Wayde van Niekerk,

Tlotliso Leotlela Tlotliso Gift Leotlela (born 12 May 1998) is a South African sprinter. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's 200 metres race; his time of 20.59 seconds in the heats did not qualify him for the semifinals. He competed at the 202 ...

, and

Akani Simbine Akani Simbine (born 21 September 1993) is a South African sprinter specialising in the 100 metres event. He was fifth at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 metres and was the 100 metres African record holder with a time of 9.84 second ...

, the quartet took the gold medal. He made an individual breakthrough in the 2017 season with a new 100 m best of 10.08 seconds in his native Pretoria. He spent June and July competing in European meetings that year. He was selected to compete at the

2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 17th IAAF World Indoor Championships was held from 1 to 4 March 2018 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. This was the city's second hosting of the event as it previously did so in 2003. Bidding process Birmingham bid for the 2016 IAAF World Indo ...

, but had to withdraw due to an Achilles tendon issue. Erasmus helped set a South African record of 38.24 seconds in the relay at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, taking the silver medals alongside

Henricho Bruintjies Henricho Bruintjies (born 16 July 1993) is a South African Sprint (running), sprinter. He broke the 10-second barrier with a run of 9.97 seconds in 2015. He has represented his country at the Summer Olympics, World Championships in Athletics, Wo ...

Anaso Jobodwana Anaso Jobodwana (born 30 July 1992) is a South African sprinter. He competed in 200 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London where he ran a new personal best of 20.27 seconds to reach the final. In the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, ...

and

(Simbine and Bruintjies had previously completed a 1–2 individually).Result - Men's 4 x 100m Relay Final
GC2018. Retrieved 2018-04-15.

International competitions

¹: Did not start in the semifinals

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Erasmus, Emile 1992 births Living people Athletes from Pretoria South African male sprinters Commonwealth Games silver medallists for South Africa Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games 21st-century South African people Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games