By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Prudence Sekgodiso showed her best form when she finished 2nd in her 800m Women’s semi-final in 1:57.57 to qualify for the final.
Sekgodiso is a rookie on the biggest stage, with the 22-year-old running at the Olympic Games for the first time.
She has been a budding talent for a few years, but her world-beating talent really came to the fore this year.
Sekgodiso opened her international season with a victory and personal best at the Diamond League track and field athletics meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, with a time of 1:57.26. It was also a world lead in the middle distance at the time.
That run came two months after she set her previous personal best of 1:58.05 at a local meet in Pretoria.
Sekgodiso has run under two minutes on five occasions – every time she’s raced the distance this year.
Although Sekgodiso only started to taste success on the national stage this year, she has been dominating locally since 2019 as a 17-year-old.
Despite still being in her early twenties, she has seven national titles across the 800m and 1,500m.
Although it might be premature at this stage, it’s hard not to draw comparisons with South Africa’s greatest middle-distance runner, Caster Semenya, who ended her career with 18 national titles and experienced similar local dominance.
Here are the eight women who have reached the final, to be held tomorrow night:
Mary Moraa (KEN) 1:57.86, Worknesh Mesele (ETH) 1:58.06; Tsige Duguma (ETH) 1:57.47, Shafiqua Maloney (VIN) 1:57.59, Juliette Whittaker (USA) 1:57.76, Renelle Lamote (FRA) 1:57.78; Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) 1:56.86, Prudence Sekgodiso (RSA) 1:57.57