South Africa is salivating at the prospect of a podium finish at the Olympics as middle-distance stunner Prudence Sekgodiso put on a magnificent performance to win the women’s 800m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo last week.
Sekgodiso is running in the Diamond League meet today in Stockholm, Sweden, which she said would be her last before she heads home to focus on her Olympic preparations.
With more records expected to fall in the Swedish capital as the event celebrates its 10-year anniversary and the Diamond League its 15th, Sekgodiso is sure to be one of the stars to watch today.
Fresh from her first-ever victory in a Diamond League meeting in Morrocco on May 19 after clocking the fastest time the world this year for the 800m women’s race, the 22-year-old has whet SA’s appetite ahead of Olympics Games in Paris at the end of July.
Her former head coach at TUT and Athletics SA’s Athletes Commission chairperson Hendrick Mokganyetsi said Sekgodiso has grown up in the system.
“She has been growing within running the championships and running Europe. She has been running with these big elite names. She is mentally matured now coming back from the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon [US],” said Mokganyetsi.
Sekgodiso was a picture of confidence in the Norwegian capital on Thursday with a fast first-lap that ensured her an early lead and a comfortable victory in 1:58.66.
In her maiden run in the Diamond League in Marrakesh, the TuksSports High School matriculant replaced the 800m world-lead record of 1:57.56 set just the previous by Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi with a spanking new 1:57.26.
While Athletics SA’s president James Moloi is pinning the country’s hopes of more Olympic medals on rising stars such as Sekgodiso, she is measured about her expectations in Paris.
The Limpopo-born star said she was aiming to be in the big eight in the Olympic Games.
“For the Paris Olympics, I will try to reach the final. I want to be in the big eight,” she said in Marrakesh after her victory.
