WeeklySA_AdminWorld indoor championships: Simbine and Sekgodiso stand out names
By Sports Reporter
By the time you read this, Prudence Sekgo- diso will have completed her Women’s 800m heats at the World Indoor Championships being held inNanjing, China, from March 21 – 23.
The 800m heats are scheduled for 5.15am South African time. South Africa will be represented by five athletes at the World Indoor Championships, with Olympic finalists Akani Simbine and Prudence Sekgodiso being the two stand-out names.
Simbine will compete in the men’s 60m, where he is ranked No2 in the world and the highest-ranked entrant in the championships.
He has a personal best time of 6.53sec, but in the world of sprinting – especially over the blink-and-you-miss-it 60m – world rankings aren’t necessarily a reliable yardstick of how things will pan out.
However, the 31-year-old Simbine will be one of the favourites when he lines up in the event. The other Olympic finalist from Paris 2024 is women’s 800m star Prudence Sekgodiso, who is ranked No4 indoors ahead of the competition.
Sekgodiso has been in especially good pre-season form and will be one of the favourites, with Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma probably going in as the athlete they will all have to beat.
South Africa’s other three representatives are Cheswill Johnson (men’s long jump), Chris van Niekerk (men’s shot put) and Marione Fourie (women’s 60m hurdles).
The South African 100m outdoor record-holder Simbine, 31, has finished in the top five over 100m at six outdoor world championships, as well as in two Olympics, but is yet to win a medal. He made his indoor debut in February, clocking 6.57 in Berlin.
With none of the men’s 60m finalists from 2024 competing in Nanjing, the stage is set for a fresh set of medallists to emerge.
Newly-crowned European indoor champion Jeremiah Azu leads the charge heading into Nanjing.
The Briton is undefeated so far this year, having retained his national indoor title in 6.56 before going on to win in Apeldoorn.
SOUTH AFRICAN ATHLETICS IN NANJING (All SA times)
FRIDAY (21 March)
5.15am: Women’s 800m heats (Prudence Sekgodiso)
6.55am: Men’s 60m heats (Akani Simbine)
2.03pm: Men’s 60m semi-finals (Akani Simbine)
3.24pm: Men’s 60m final (Akani Simbine)
SATURDAY (22 March)
6.05am: Women’s 800m semi-finals (Prudence Sekgodiso)
SUNDAY (23 March)
4.25am: Women’s 60m hurdles, heats (Marione Fourie)
1.35pm: Women’s 60m hurdles, semi-finals (Marione Fourie)
1.38pm: Men’s shot put, final (Chris van Niekerk)
1.40pm: Men’s long jump, final (Cheswill Johnson)
2.54pm: Women’s 800m final (Prudence Sekgodiso)
2.57pm: Women’s 60m hurdles, final (Marione Fourie)
