Latest news with #Sekgodiso
TimesLIVE
06-07-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Prudence Sekgodiso on the podium again at Eugene Diamond League
World indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso delivered another excellent result on the top-flight Diamond League circuit, taking second place in the women's 800m race in Eugene on Saturday night. Sekgodiso pushed eventual winner Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia all the way to the line, equalling her personal best of 1:57.16 to take the runner-up spot. Duguma narrowly held on to secure victory in 1:57.10, six seconds ahead. African athletes swept the podium as Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda held on to finish third in 1:57.89. It was Sekgodiso's third podium finish thus far in the 2025 Diamond League series, having taken second place in Rabat and third in Stockholm. Bayanda Walaza, the only other South African athlete competing in Eugene, took sixth position in the men's 100m race on his Diamond League debut. The 19-year-old sprinter clocked 10.04 seconds in a fast race that saw four men dipping under 10 seconds.
IOL News
25-06-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
SA 800m star Prudence Sekgodiso thrilled with ‘MR PB' after stunning run in Ostrava
Prudence Sekgodiso set a new 800m personal best in Ostrava on Tuesday. Photo: AFP Image: AFP 'MR PB!!' That was how South African superstar Prudence Sekgodiso reacted after running her fastest ever 800m time in Ostrava, Czech Republic on Tuesday night. The 23-year-old middle-distance athlete clocked a stunning time of 1 minute 57.16 seconds (1:57.16) to clinch victory at the Golden Spike meeting. That eclipsed her previous personal best of 1:57.26 that she posted in Morocco last year, and it is also the second-quickest effort in 2025, behind the world lead of 1:56.64 by Ethiopia's Tsige Duguma. Having endured a few uncharacteristic defeats in recent weeks, Sekgodiso bounced back to remind her rivals that she is building up to September's world championships in Tokyo in fine fashion as she inches closer and closer to Caster Semenya's amazing SA record of 1:54.25. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ With two pacemakers taking the field through a reasonably quick time on the first lap, Sekgodiso kept her cool in third place as she waited for the right moment to strike. The current 800m world indoor champion pounced when the second pacemaker stepped off the track around the 650m mark, striding away from Ethiopia's Nigist Getachew on the home straight to claim a superb triumph, with her training partner Oratile Nowe of Botswana finishing fast to grab second position in 1:57.49. Sekgodiso screamed in delight after looking up at the stadium clock and realising that she had set a new PB, which was also a new meeting record – beating the previous mark of 1:57.72, set by Mozambique legend Maria Mutola in 2004. SA ultra-distance star Gerda Steyn was among the well wishers on Sekgodiso's Instagram post, stating 'Amazing!!!!!' Sekgodiso added that her next competition will be the Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon on July 5. Meanwhile, there was another South African in top form in Ostrava in the shape of javelin-thrower Douw Smit. The SA champion took a surprise lead early on in the competition with a new personal best distance of 84.12m, beating his previous mark of 83.29m. But Potchefstroom's Smit had to settle for second place in the end, with India's 2024 Olympic silver medallist and current world champion Neeraj Chopra taking the honours with an 85.29m throw. Smit, though, will be delighted to have beaten Grenada superstar Anderson Peters, who finished third in 83.23m. 'What a night! 4 throws over 80m and a new PB of 84.12m! Huge thanks to @zlatatretra for the invite, unforgettable evening! Baie dankie coach @chrisdb007_ en @potchtrackclub,' Smit posted on his Instagram account. Two other South African athletes in action at the Mestsky Stadium were in the 1,500m event, although they ran in different races. New SA record-holder Tshepo Tshite had to settle for ninth spot in 3:34.14 – well short of his national mark of 3:31.35 that he set at the Paris Diamond League last week, while Luan Munnik also came ninth in the other 1,500m race in 3:36.89.
TimesLIVE
24-06-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Prudence Sekgodiso clocks personal best as she wins 800m at Golden Spike
World indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso improved her personal best as she won the women's 800m at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Tuesday night. Sekgodiso led from the start, not counting the two pace-makers, to win in 1min 57.16ec, a meet record that was 0.1sec lower than her pervious best from last year. The South African middle distance queen was in control after the second pace-maker dropped out on the back straight and never looked in trouble as she stayed comfortably in front of training partner Oratile Nowe of Botswana and Nigist Getachew of Ethiopia, runner-up at the world indoor championships. Nowe overhauled Getachew in the sprint for the line to take second place in a 1:57.49 national record. The East African was third in 1:58.02. Douw Smit finished second in the men's javelin, hitting an 84.12m best to finish behind India's multiple Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra on 85.29. His effort in the second round gave him the lead until Chopra surpassed that in the third round. Smit also had the satisfaction of clearing 80m on three other throws. Tshepo Tshite, fresh from his 3:31.35 SA 1,500m record in Paris on Friday night, ended ninth in 3:34.14.
TimesLIVE
15-06-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Prudence Sekgodiso fights hard and smart for third place in Stockholm
World indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso fought hard and smart to finish third in a competitive 800m race at the Diamond League meet in Stockholm on Sunday in which Olympic champion Jemma Reekie of Britain finished behind her. Kenya's 2023 world champion Mary Moraa turned this into a tactical contest as she slowed down up front early on, letting the pacemaker go ahead, but Sekgodiso kept her head and when Reekie attacked at the end of the first lap, the 23-year-old went with her. Moraa pressed again on the back straight, but Sekgodiso pushed back to stay in touch with the leaders and when they came off the final bend it was a three-way race between the Pretoria runner, Moraa and Briton Georgia Hunter Bell, the Olympic 1,500m bronze medallist. Hunter Bell won in 1min 57.66sec with Moraa second in 1:57.83 and Sekgodiso third in 1:58.00. Audrey Werro of Switzerland was fourth in 1:58.35 and Reekie fifth in 1:58.66. Bradley Nkoana, a member of the South African 4x100m relay teams that won the 2024 Olympic silver and 2024 World Relays gold, finished second in the 100m in 10.23, five-hundredths of a second behind Benjamin Azamati of Ghana. Gift Leotlela, the South African champion over the distance, was disqualified for a false start. Abduraqhman Karriem had to overcome two recalls in the men's 200m, one for crowd noise and the other for a false start by Canadian Olympic gold medallist Aaron Brown. But when the race got under way after the third firing of the start gun, Karriem produced a great start, coming off the bend in contention, but then started tiring to finish fifth in 20.52, well short of his 20.15 personal best.
TimesLIVE
23-05-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
SA stars head into fiery international action at Rabat Diamond League
World indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso, sprint king Akani Simbine and a star-studded cast of South African athletes face their toughest competition so far this year at the Diamond League meet in Rabat on Sunday evening. Form 400m runner Zakithi Nene and Wayde van Niekerk, now focusing on the 200m, take on Olympic champions, while Zeney Geldenhuys and Rogail Joseph face the second-fastest 400m hurdler of all time. Even Olympic silver medallist javelin thrower Jo-Ane van Dyk has a tough assignment, going up against 2023 world championship medallists Flor Ruiz of Colombia and Australian Mackenzie Little as well as Tokyo Olympic runner-up Maria Andrejczyk of Poland. Sekgodiso turns her focus to the international outdoor circuit against a field that includes Ethiopian rival Tsige Duguma, the Olympic silver medallist from last year who currently owns the 1min 56.64sec world lead she set in China early this month. Sekgodiso, who ended eighth in the 800m final at the Paris Games, beat Duguma at the world indoor championships final in China in March. Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda, the 2019 world champion, and Natoya Goule-Toppin of Jamaica have also been faster than the South African this year, having clocked 1:58.39 and 1:58.43, behind Duguma.
