By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@GalloImages.
South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso finished eighth in the 800m final at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday night, in time of 1min 58.79.
Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson won in 1min 56.72sec, Ethiopia’s Tsige Dugama the silver in 1:57.15 and Kenya’s world champion Mary Moraa’s 1:57.42 was enough for the bronze.
The 22-year-old South African, racing in her first major final, ran in the top four or five but waned notably in the final 50m as the rest of the eight-runner field passed her by.
On Monday night Sekgodiso qualified for the final in impressive fashion, raising hopes of a medal. She tailed world No 1 Hodgkinson around the Stade de France track to finish second in her semifinal.
Sekgodiso certainly did enough at her first Olympics to confirm she belongs at this level and there’s much to be excited about this 22-year-old as she builds towards the 2028 Games.
She was forced a bit wide early on as the runners jostled for position and she sat alongside Ethiopia’s Duguma in fourth spot, while Hodgkinson led Kenyan Moraa through the bell in 58.4sec. The speed was injected down the back straight and Sekgodiso went with the leaders. However, she was kept wide around the far turn, although still had a puncher’s chance entering the final straight. That’s when the race started to tell and she slipped back through the field, knowing her chances had evaporated.
“The plan was to stick with the girls for as long as I could. I know I’m not good in the final 100m and when I saw the girls coming past me, I thought I must just keep my head up and keep going.
“I’m so happy I made the final, c’mon guys, it means a lot to me,” she told the media afterwards.
She also revealed that she has trouble sleeping after a race. “This was a tough tournament, with three races in three day. I’m not used to that. Normally I can have a day or two to recover but here I couldn’t. I have to take sleeping pills to sleep and then I wake up late, so the recovery period was difficult for a programme like this.”
Sekgodiso will have learned a lot about racing and recovery at these Olympics. And the lessons will stand her in good stead going forward, because she is going to be force to be reckoned with at international level.
Team SA started the day with four medals with Tatjana Smith (gold and silver) and the men’s sevens rugby and Alan Hatherly (bronze) .
Wayde van Niekerk and Shaun Maswangani both finished third in their respective 200m heats to go straight into the semi-final but there was pain etched over his face as Benjamin Richardson suffered a leg injury while going well. He recorded a time however, which hasn’t eliminated him from racing in the repechage if he’s fit enough.
China (20 golds) lead the overall medals table, followed by the United States (19 golds) and France and Australia (each 12 golds). South Africa are 29th with one gold.
ATHLETICS
Women’s 800m, final: Prudence Sekgodiso finished seventh in a time of 1min 58.79
Men’s 200m heats: Wayde van Niekerk finished third in his heat in 20.42 to automatically qualify for the semi-finals
Men’s 200m heats: Benjamin Richardson pulled up with an upper right leg injury with 80m remaining and hobbled painfully over the line. He is a doubt for Team SA’s 4x100m relay
Men’s 200m heats: Shaun Maswangani finished third in his heat in 20.20 and qualified automatically for the semi-finals
Men’s discus qualification, Group A: Francois Prinsloo had a best throw of 61.35m with his second attempt which placed him 13th in his group. Overall, the top 12 throwers from the two groups go through to the final, so the South African doesn’t progress.
Men’s discus qualification, Group B: Victor Hogan had a best throw of 60.78m, which left in in 13th place in his group and he doesn’t progress to the 12-man final.
Men’s 400m repechage: Lythe Pillay won his heat in 45.40 to qualify for the semi-finals
Men’s 400m repechage: Zakhiti Nene won his heat in 44.81 to qualify for the semi-finals
Women’s 400m heats: Miranda Coetzee finished 4th in her heat in 51.58, just missing out on qualification for the semi-finals, but qualifying for the repechage and another chance to reach them
SPORT CLIMBING
Men’s boulder & Lead, semi-final boulder: Mel Janse van Rensburg scored a total of 9.4 points and didn’t go through to the next round
Women’s speed qualification seeding heats: Aniya Holder produced a personal best of 9.12 seconds and progresses to the seeding phase
Women’s speed heats: Aniya Holder came up against the Olympic champion and world record holder Aleksandra Miroslaw and was beaten. Holder’s time of 9.36sec was bettered by Miroslaw in 6.10.