Name Okkert Brits | Role Olympic athlete | |
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Okkert brits 600cm
Okkert Brits (born 22 August 1973 in Uitenhage) is a former South African track and field athlete who specialized in the pole vault. He was the silver medallist at the World Championships in Athletics in 2003. He was a four-time champion at the African Championships in Athletics and twice champion at the All-Africa Games. He was a gold medallist at the 2002 Commonwealth Games 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 and 2004 Olympic Games finishing seventh in 2000. He ranked number one in the world for the 1995 season.
Married to Jane Gillespie in 2003 and father of Sarah Jane Brits, born in 2005 and David Okkert Brits born in 2006. In 2009, Okkert Brits and his (close friend) Elizabeth Ann Morris took part in the 3rd season of Survivor: South Africa,
In January 2003, Brits tested positive for a banned substance ephedrine, which he claimed must have been in the energy supplement he took. For it being his first offense and ephedrine only being a stimulant, he was only given a public warning.