Upsets and records at Athletix Grand Prix event in Pretoria
There were some surprises at last week's Athletix Grand Prix event at the Tuks Athletics Stadium.
The second Liquid Telecom Athletix Grand Prix Series meeting held at Tuks Athletics Stadium in Pretoria last week saw Caster Semenya win the 1 000m women’s race in a new SA record, while Anaso Jobodwana brought down the house by taking the scalp of world 100m champion, Justin Gatlin in the 150m race.
Jobodwana started celebrating 20 meters before the line, knowing that he had claimed one of the biggest victories of his career in a time of 15.08sec ahead of Roscoe Engel (15.17sec) and Luxolo Adams rounding out the top three (15.18sec).
Gatlin had to settle for 4th (15.23sec), but that did not stop the American from spending time with the crowd and posing for endless pictures.
“It’s all about the fans. They are the reason why we race,” said Gatlin.
The world champion was gracious in defeat, praising Jobodwana.
“He ran a great race and it is good to see him running so well again. Next time I hope to come through earlier, I did feel a bit jetlagged. So my coach told me to focus on my first 100m and see how I finish the last 50m. I still felt I would win with 30m to go, but the legs came off. I usually open in May, so this was a bit early for me. But overall I am happy,” Gatlin explained his performance.
The 150m was the final race of an evening that saw spectacular performances coming in quick succession.
Caster Semenya broke the 35-year-old record of Ilse De Kock-Wicksel in the 1 000m women, crossing the line in 2:35.43. Wicksel’s record was 2:37.0, run in 1983. Semenya was paced by 400m hurdler, Wenda Nel and was taken through the 600m mark in 93sec, spot on for the record attempt.
Earlier, Nel won the 400m hurdles in a decent time of 55,31 sec. The 17-year-old Zeney van der Walt from Afrikaans Hoër Meisies Pretoria finished second in a time of 56,29, which was a new personal best for her.
South Africa’s Justine Palframan proved that she is busy regaining her best form when she showed a clean pair of heals to the large group of international athletes competing against her in the 200m race. She won the race in 23,32 seconds.
Nicholas Bett won the 400m Men’s Hurdles breaking 49sec for the second time this year, winning the race in 48.88sec ahead of Le Roux Hamman (49.22sec), with LJ Van Zyl finishing in third.
Ruswahl Samaai was too strong in the Long Jump with a leap of 8.24m. Isaac Makwala had targeted a sub 31sec 300m, but had to settle for a 31.77sec win over Thapela Phora (32.57sec) and Ofentse Mogawane (32.68sec).
Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei showed just why he is the world 10 000m silver medalist, running a controlled 3 000m race. He looked majestic as he won in 7:49.48.
Akani Simbine lived up to his billing as the fastest man in South Africa, opening his 2018 season with a 10.05sec win.
“I am happy with the win. I made sure that I focused on the first 60m and I executed that well. It is important to me to do that. Everything is going well in my group and I’m looking forward to the season,” said Simbine.
To view the full event results visit: https://www.athletixgrandprix.com/
The third and final Athletix Grand Prix Series meeting takes place in Paarl at the Dal Josaphat Stadium on Thursday, 22 March 2018.
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