And there’s another bright prospect on the horizon in the sprint events in Bayanda Walaza.
South Africa has produced some world class athletes, such as Caster Semenya and Wayde van Niekerk, in recent times, while Akani Simbine continues to shine in the sprint events, but it looks like the country has unearthed another gem in Prudence Sekgodiso.
The 23-year-old has been in the athletics picture for a few years now, but on Sunday she took a major step forward when she timed her run perfectly to charge home in the women’s 800m final to win the gold medal at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Nanjing, China.
Sekgodiso was pure class in qualifying for the final and in the main event showed plenty of maturity to not push too hard in the early stages as she streaked to the gold medal, in 1:58:40, a world-leading time, for this country’s first in the indoor championships.
The performance will give Sekgodiso plenty of confidence ahead of the lucrative Diamond League later this season and for the World Championships in Tokyo in September. If she is able to continue improving there’s every chance she can mix it with all the other big names over the 800m event.
Simbine keeps shining
But, Sekgodiso’s stunning performance was not the only impressive showing by a South African in Nanjing.
The veteran sprinter Simbine, who is now already 31, showed he is still full of energy and competitive spirit when he raced to the bronze medal in the men’s 60m final on Friday.
Simbine, who has had to settle for several fourth and fifth place finishes over his long career, picked up his first major global individual medal and the country’s first indoor medal since 2018, with his third-place finish.
Simbine also picked up an Olympic silver medal in Paris last year when he helped the men’s 4x100m relay team to second place.
On that occasion his teammates were Shaun Maswanganyi, Bradley Nkoane and Bayana Walaza, the latter sprinter breaking national 100m and 200m junior records in recent days.
Simbine will feel he still has more in him and could yet challenge for another medal at the World Championships later this year, while Walaza, like Sekgodiso, has shown he has a bright future ahead of him as well.
