The 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, will see the likes of Wayde van Niekerk and Akani Simbine leading team South Africa’s charge for medals.
However, the Mzansi female group’s hopes of a potential medal at the championships will fall squarely on the shoulders of hurdles duo Zeney van der Walt and compatriot Marioné Fourie.
They are among a group of 36 athletes sent by Athletics South Africa to this year’s championships in the capital of Hungary where they will look to end a six-year medal drought.
Team South Africa returned home empty-handed from the last two World Athletics Championships in Doha and the US and will be out to make things right this year. The last time the team returned home from the World Champs with medals was six years ago in London, with the team winning six medals.
Heavyweights Van Niekerk and Simbine, along with sprinting sensation Zakithi Nene, who won a Diamond League title in the 400m in Stockholm last month, will lead the charge for men.
The women’s team, which is not expected to set the scene alight due to inexperience at this level, will be led by Van der Walt and Fourie. Van der Walt, who is a Commonwealth Games medalist, has committed to both the 400m hurdles and flat events at this year’s World Champs.
Last year, Van der Walt’s World Champs debut in the US ended at the semifinals and having soaked up some of the pressure of big events, the 23-year-old will be out to go one better and reach the final.
Olympic and world champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is the world record holder in the women’s 400m hurdles. In her absence in Budapest, Van der Walt will be among the ladies out to capitalise.
Van der Walt would also need to see off the fierce challenge from Dutch athlete Femke Bol, who is among the favourites in McLaughlin-Levrone’s absence.
“The hurdles is my favourite event, and that’s where I will hope to challenge this year,” said Van der Walt. “But I’ll also be running the flat and that is also fun. It will be fun to run against those very fast ladies and to see how I can improve my speed, which will help with my hurdles.”
Her compatriot and fellow medal hopeful, Fourie, smashed the SA women’s 100m hurdles record last month to qualify for the World Champs and the 2024 Paris Olympics. “My speed is better this year and I think I can go even faster,” said Fourie.
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