Athens - Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Hezekiel Sepeng were whip-cracking sharp in their opening 800m rounds of the Athens Olympics at the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday night.
Both were happy with their performances after they qualified for the semi-finals on Thursday, leading up to the finals on Saturday.
Sepeng predicted exceptionally fast semi-finals on Thursday night after favourite Wilson Kipketer (Denmark) won his heat in 1:44.69 and Kenya's Wilfred Bungei cracked a 1:44.84 winner in heat four.
Mulaudzi was his happiest all season after winning his 800m heat against dangerous German Rene Herms in 1:45.72.
He put his arm up as he crossed the line, jubilant that the sting had returned to his kick at the finish that edged Herms into second with 1:45.83.
"I'm much happier now," smiled the little die-hard who had set the pace for the fast heats that followed.
Had good sessions with coach
It was a huge boost after he had a nightmare 800m in Zurich just over three weeks ago.
"My legs had bounce and speed. I felt good from the gun and cruised my first round, then kicked with 20 metres to go.
"I've had good sessions with my coach Ian Harriers since I've come to Athens because I've been struggling for the past few weeks.
"I'm coming into good shape, it has helped my confidence a lot.
"In the next round, I'll take it easy and see how it goes. Time is not important, it's the winning that counts.
"I'll run my own race. The people back home must pray that Africa does well here."
Sepeng led from the bell, then conceded to his training partner, Andrea Longo, to finish second in 1:46.82 to the Italian's 1:46.75, which pushed former world champion André Bucher of Switzerland out of the reckoning.
On that pedestrian performance, Sepeng is going to have fresh legs going into the semis after the mercurial times set in the ealier heats.
"It's going to fly in the semis," said Sepeng. "I can see times in the 1:43s to get into the finals."
Sepeng was pleased with his speed at the finish.
"I've been feeling kind of sluggish training in the village.
"I've had sore joints and that kind of thing, so I rested for two days. But tonight I've kicked all those cobwebs out.
"Mulaudzi laid the gauntlet down for the rest of us in his heat. Now I must just focus on myself, because everyone's going to charge in the semis."
In the pole vault, Okkert Britz could manage only 10th, and was eliminated.
