There is good reason for using the word ‘invincible’ when describing Wenda Nel’s performances in local 400-hurdles races.  Since 2010 the Tuks/HPC athlete has only been beaten twice in South Africa.

In 2012 Anneri Ebersohn managed to beat Nel at the Gauteng Championship and in 2013, at the South African Championships in Stellenbosch, Ebersohn again triumphed against Nel.

In all other races Nel was given a ‘carte blanche’ and she usually finished a metre or so ahead of her nearest rivals.  It should be no surprise, therefore, that she won three consecutive titles from 2010 to 2012 and then again in 2014 and 2015.

In spite of her dominance, Nel refuses to take victory for granted. In fact she admits that she is slightly nervous about racing at the national championship this weekend.

“I guess it is because it will be the first time this season that I will be racing the 400-hurdles.  But this I can promise – when I settle down in the starting blocks it will be, as far as I am concerned, a clean slate. My past victories will count for nothing and I certainly cannot afford to take anything for granted. There is no easy race. It is never about whether I win by a few metres or merely a few centimetres. Every time I race I set myself a personal goal. Only if I manage to achieve that goal I consider my race to be a success,” the Tuks/HPC athlete said.

The coaches who have watched Nel training over the past few weeks are of the opinion that she will run a fast time. In fact they referred to her as a “time bomb waiting to explode”.

Nel just smiles when it is mentioned to her.

“So I guess there is some pressure on me to perform. However, I am not prepared to make any predictions about times before the championships. The 400-hurdles is a technical race.  A mere moment’s lapse of concentration could turn out to be costly. As I have said, I have a goal in my mind which means that I am not going to hold anything back. Therefore anything can happen.”

Nel’s second hurdles race will be next Tuesday when she will compete in the ASA Night Series Meeting in Port Elizabeth.

She will begin her international campaign on 6 May when she will compete in the Diamond League Meeting in Doha. Her next race after this will be on 22 May in Rabat, which will be followed by the Rome Diamond League Meeting on 2 June.

Nel had reason to be satisfied with the way her season played out in 2015.  She improved her best time to 54.37 seconds. Myrtle Bothma (53.74s –1986) and Surita Febbraio (54.05s –2003) are the only two South Africans who were able to run faster times.