South African Athletics Statisticians

The South African Athletics Statisticians (SAAS) is a voluntary non-profit organisation which was founded in 1952 by Harry Beinart, Alistair Matthews and Arrie Joubert to promote the maintenance of sound athletics statistics in South Africa.^[1] The organisation produces the South African Athletics Annual, a publication devoted to primarily South African athletics statistics but also international athletics results. The publication is now in its 59th edition and ia edited by respected athletics writer and statistician, Riel Hauman, and contains South Africa annual and all-time lists and records for senior, junior, youth and sub-youth athletes and the South African Athletes of the year.^[2] The South African Athletics Annual is an internationally recognised and respected athletics publication and has been described as "indispensible to anyone wishing to keep abreast of the most important developments in South African Athletics on a yearly basis."^[3] It was also a key reference in the only book published on the standard marathon in South Africa, A Century of the Marathon, by Riel Hauman.^[4]

The 2013 Edition is currently in preparation under the editorship of Riel Hauman and includes an Athletes Hall of Fame and a Coaches Hall of Fame. It also includes the Annual Beinart Award for the top ranked South African athlete on the world performance lists in the previous year. The award is made in honour of the doyen of South African athletics statisticians, Harry Beinart, and was first awarded to Zola Budd in 1983. A full list of recipients to date are as follows:

• 1983 Zola Budd 5000m 1st
• 1984

Statisticians in the South African athletics provinces are encouraged to maintain accurate provincial Domestic and All Comers Records and as at 1988 as compiled by SAAS stalwart, Gert Le Roux, South Africa's most populous athletics province, Kwa-Zulu Natal's, domestic provincial athletics records were as follows and will be updated in the light of performances of various Kwa-Zulu Natal greats such as sprinter, Matthew Quinn:

Kwa-Zulu Natal Domestic Records

Senior Men

• 100m 10.53 M. Xulu Kings Park 20.12.86;
• 200m 21.32 M. Xulu Kings Park 20.4.87;
• 400m 47.13 J. McCabe Kings Park 13.12.84;
• 800m 1:48.0 A.C. Wheeler Kings Park 16.3.74;
• 1500m 3:48.2 N. Du Plessis Kings Park 12.2.88;
• 3000m 8:14.3 W. Petterson Kings Park 12.2.88;
• 5000m 13:51.5 Z. Sinqe Kings Park 18.3.88;
• 10000m 29.17.5 M. Moloto Kings Park 22.2.85;
• 3000m s/c 9:00.1 C. Wagner Kings Park 8.4.80;

References