By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso has won 800m gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.
Sekgodiso clocked 1:58.40, her strong finish seeing her surge away to win gold ahead of Ethiopia’s Nigist Getachew and Portugal’s Patricia Silva. They all had the indoor races of their lives, Getachew running 1:59.63 and Silva an indoor national record of 1:59.80.
She delivered one of the biggest upsets at the WIC Nanjing 25, flipping the script to upstage Ethiopia’s defending champion and Paris Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma to claim victory.
The event had already proven unpredictable, with several top contenders falling short in the semifinals, including US indoor champion Nia Akins and Olympic finalist Shafiqua Maloney. This set the stage for a somewhat unexpected outcome in the final.
Duguma and her teammate Getachew set a fast pace from the start, surging ahead in the first 200m with Getachew taking the lead and dictating the tempo.
The South African nearly stumbled while attempting to catch up with the Ethiopian duo but quickly regained her balance and composure. Finding her rhythm, she stayed close behind the leading pair. As the fast pace began to wear down her rivals, Sekgodiso capitalised on their fatigue, surging past them to seize control of the race.
The Olympic finalist was unstoppable as she sped towards the finish line to improve on her previous national record of 1:59.88 set in Karlsruhe and equalled in Lievin. Her medal was her country’s first gold at the WIC Nanjing 25.
“It’s a surprise. You have the world’s fastest in the race, but I believed that I could make it, and to make it and grab that gold medal, I’m proud,” said Sekgodiso. “I did dream of this, I’ve been working so hard for this. We have a long season ahead and I believe there’s still more to come.”
Meanwhile Chris van Niekerk competed in the men’s shot put, finishing 14th with a distance of 19.47m, while Cheswill Johnson leapt to a 12th place finish in the men’s long jump, recording a best effort of 7.64m.
With inputs from World Atlhletics.