SOUTH Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso claimed a smooth win in the 800m race on day one of the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Grand Prix at the Pilditch Stadium in the South African capital, Pretoria.
The 2024 Paris Olympics finalist secured the win in an unofficial time of 1:59.01, ahead of Botswana’s Oratilwe Nowe with a time of 1:59.46, and fellow South African Charne Swart, who completed the podium with a time of 2:01.57.
Nowe set the pace early on in the race with Sekgodiso matching her pace until she surpassed her after the 600m mark, when she took the lead when they were 200 metres away from the finish line.
Sekgodiso’s top form continues from her successful run at the European indoor circuit, having originally planned to run the 1500m, which got cancelled and resulted in her late change to run in the 800m race, and her first outdoor race of the season.
The qualifying time for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, set to take place between September 13 and September 21, is 1:59.00.
“I enjoyed the race, it was nice,” Sekgodiso said.
“It was part of my training as I was preparing for the World Indoors (championships). I am glad I ran a sub-two-minutes as well.”
Botswana’s golden boy and Olympic gold medallist, Letsile Tebogo, came second in the 400m men’s race with a time of 45.42, losing to compatriot Bayapo Ndori, who won the race with his best time, 44.59, which became the world-leading time.
South Africa’s Zak Nene came third in the 400m race, matching Tebogo’s time of 45.42.
18-year-old South African Katlego Letebele beat out fellow South African Emile Erasmus to the finish line in the 100m men’s race, with a time of 10.19 sec, which was the same time set by Erasmus.
In a surprise result, Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala (also known as the fastest man in Africa) finished in third place with a time of 10.22 sec.
The 29-year-old elected to miss the indoor season altogether to use his outdoor season to prepare himself ahead of seeking qualification for the World Athletics Championships.
“I didn’t expect to beat him,” Letebele told The Citizen.
“I thought he was going to run under 10 seconds, so I just told myself to execute my own race, go through my phases, and I’ll be fine.”
The World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger meeting had two South African records broken in the 4×400m women’s relay and the women’s hammer throw events.
Leandri Holtzhausen set the first national record in the women’s hammer throw competition with a throw of 67.95m, surpassing her previous national best of 66.54m from February by 1.41m.
The other SA record came in the women’s 4x400m relay, where Shirley Nekhubui, Miranda Coetzee, Marlie Viljoen, and Zeney Geldenhuys produced a time of 3 min 28.30 sec. The relay team beat the previous record of 3:28.49, set in 2016 by Caster Semenya, Jeanelle Griessel, Wenda Nel, and Justine Palframan at the African Athletics Championships in Durban.
Leonette Vosloo took the win in the 100m women’s race in a time of 11.74 sec, ahead of her South African compatriots Amiel Strauss (12.03 sec) and Snethemba Ngema (12.05 sec), who came in second and third place, respectively.
South African Marione Fourie surged to a win in the women’s 100m hurdles race in 12.77 seconds, ahead of her University of Pretoria teammates Chane Kok (13.82 sec) and Roline Louw (13.94 sec).
South African junior athlete Njabulo Mbatha won the men’s 400m hurdles contest in 49.40 sec, ahead of Botswana athletes Victor Ntweng (49.46 sec) and Kemorena Tisang (50.82 sec).
Mbatha’s senior compatriot Mondray Barnard took the win in the 110m men’s hurdles in 13.63 sec, beating out Antonio Alkana (13.65 sec) and Franco LeRoux (13.67 sec) to the finish line.
The ASA Grand Prix concludes with the final day of events at the Pilditch Stadium, Pretoria, on March 13.
