Hoërskool Nelspruit alumnus and shot put star Ashley Erasmus cemented her place in the African record books when she won gold in shot put at the 2023 African Games. Her throw broke an 18-year African U20 record, edging it out by 3cm.

The 2023 African Games were held in Accra, Ghana, from March 8 to 23, and while this was the main host city, the games were held in two sub-host cities, Kumasi and Cape Coast. Erasmus was part of Team South Africa and took part in both the shot put and discus items. The discus was held on March 21 and the shot put the day after.

Unfortunately, Erasmus wasn’t as successful as they’d hoped for in the discus item, placing seventh. She would, however, bounce back the very next day, far better than she or her supporters could’ve imagined. Erasmus started the shot put event well with a throw of 16.4m in her first attempt.

This kept her in first place until the third throw from Nigerian Oyesade Olatoye, who with 16.47m took the new lead. Olatoye then extended her lead with a 16.61m throw the next round. Erasmus was still in the running, though, and in the fifth round reclaimed the lead with a throw of 16.7m.

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She was, however, saving her best for last, and in the sixth and final round, Erasmus blew away her competition with a throw of 16.98m, 37cm clear of the second-placed Olatoye. This earned Erasmus her first-ever African Games gold medal, doing so on her first appearance at the competition.

It was also the biggest stage on which she had participated to date. This made the win rather special for this 18-year-old who matriculated from Hoërskool Nelspruit last year.

“I’m really happy with the win. It might not be what I initially wanted to throw, but I’m really proud that I could win,” she said on Tuesday, back home and already back in training.

“The win really means a lot. It carries a lot of weight for me, because it’s also an Olympic qualifier, so to win gold and just be there among senior athletes makes me really proud.”

What Erasmus didn’t realise at the time, though, is that this throw means she is now an African U20 record holder. The previous women’s U20 Africa record of 16.95m was set by Simoné du Toit in 2006. Miné de Klerk did throw an improved distance of 17.4m in 2021, however, this has not been ratified by the Confederation of African Athletics.

This means that not only does Erasmus now have claim to the new SA U20 shot put record, but also the new Africa U20 one. But she isn’t done yet. Erasmus hopes to still qualify for this year’s Olympic Games, and her opportunity to do so will come at the SA Senior Track and Field Championships on April 18.

There she needs to throw a minimum of 17.5m in order to qualify for the Olympics. While it might sound a ways off, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for Erasmus.

“I’ve thrown that before in training, so I definitely know it is possible, I just need to do it on the big stage,” she said. “I’m also aiming to break the senior SA record, so the real hope is to knock both off in one go.”