Okkert Brits (born 22 August 1973, in

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port E ...

) is a former South African

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who specialised in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

. He was the silver medallist at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

in 2003. He was a four-time champion at the

African Championships in Athletics The African Championships in Athletics is a continental athletics event organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the continental association for the sport in Africa. Since its inaugural edition in 1979 it was at first organise ...

and twice champion at the All-Africa Games. He was a gold medallist at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

and took bronze at the 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships. His personal best of 6.03 m, set in 1995, is the African record. This made him the first African in the 6 metres club of vaulters. He competed in the 1996,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

and

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

finishing seventh in 2000. He ranked number one in the world for the 1995 season. He has been married to Jane Gillespie since 2003; they are the parents of Sarah Jane Brits (born in 2005) and David Okkert Brits (born in 2006). In 2009, Brits took part in the 3rd season of Survivor: South Africa, placing eighth. In January 2003, Brits tested positive for a banned substance

ephedrine Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is often used to prevent low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred treatment. It is of unclear benefit in ...

, which he claimed must have been in the energy supplement he took. For its being his first offence and ephedrine only being a stimulant, he was only given a public warning.

Competition record

Survivor South Africa: Santa Carolina

In 2010, Brits competed on the third season of ''Survivor South Africa'', '' Survivor South Africa: Santa Carolina''. He made the merge, and ultimately was voted out in 8th place. He cast his jury vote for Perle "GiGi" van Schalkwyk, who ultimately won the competition.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brits, Okkert 1973 births Living people People from Uitenhage Afrikaner people South African male pole vaulters Olympic athletes of South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for South Africa World Athletics Championships medalists Doping cases in athletics South African sportspeople in doping cases African Games gold medalists for South Africa African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1995 All-Africa Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 All-Africa Games Sportspeople from the Eastern Cape

Competition record

Survivor South Africa: Santa Carolina

See also

References

External links