Young women athletes excite experts about the future
Judging by the performances of young women athletes at this year's senior South African athletics championships, the future of women's athletics in South Africa looks rosy.
It is still early days but judging from what happened during the South African Athletics Championships in Germiston it would seem as if a new generation of female stars is on the rise.
The 17-year old Prudence Sekgodiso from Tuks might be one of the youngest athletes to ever won the 800m at the senior national championships. Another Tuks athlete, the 18-year old Zeney van der Walt, ended Wenda Nel’s decade long rule as undisputed “Queen of 400m-hurdling” while the 17-year-old Kirsty Bell won the women’s 3000m-steeplechase.
A few others such as Marga Cumming (20-year-old – hammer throw); Antoinette van der Merwe (18-year-old – 100m-hurdles); Carmie Prinsloo (17-year-old – 1500m); Kirsten Ahrens (18-year-old – 400m); Yolandi Stander (20-year-old – discus) all won silver medals at the SA Championships.
What was exciting about the performances of Van der Walt and Sekgodiso were their never say die attitude the moment they stepped onto the track.
It is no secret that Van der Walt views Nel as a role model but once she had settled in her starting blocks all that matters was to win. There is apparently nothing the Tuks athlete relishes more than a good duel on the track. It gets her adrenaline pumping.
However, what happens on the track stays on the track. Moments after winning the 400m-hurdles Van der Walt was seen applauding Nel. It was her way of giving recognition to one of the legends of South African athletics.
In spite of winning the 800m Sekgodiso could not help but slightly disappointed. The TuksSport High School learner who is funded by the Athletics Foundation Trust so wanted to race her idol, Caster Semenya. Not that she thought she could beat her, but she wanted to test herself against the best.
Her coach, Godfrey Mashegwane, admits being surprised by his protege’s performance. When she arrived back in South Africa on Monday after having won a gold medal at the African Junior Championships in the Ivory Coast, she was sick.
“I was contemplating whether it would be wise to let her run, but there was no way that Prudence was prepared to bow out. From the beginning of the season putting in a good run at the South African Senior Championships had been one of her primary goals. She kept on assuring me she would be OK. Prudence got this hunger to be the best, and it is as if nothing seems to faze her ever,” Mashegwane concluded.
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