Sekgodiso Shines with New Personal Best in Ostrava

South Africa’s 800m star Prudence Sekgodiso delivered a sensational performance at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic on Tuesday night, setting a new personal best and meeting record.

The 23-year-old clocked 1 minute 57.16 seconds (1:57.16) to claim victory, eclipsing her previous best of 1:57.26 set in Morocco last year. Her time is currently the second-fastest in the world for 2025, trailing only Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma (1:56.64).

After enduring a few recent defeats, Sekgodiso proved she is peaking at the right time as she builds towards the World Championships in Tokyo this September. She is edging ever closer to Caster Semenya’s SA record of 1:54.25.

SA ultra-distance star Gerda Steyn was among the well wishers on Sekgodiso’s Instagram post, stating “Amazing!!!!!

In Ostrava, Sekgodiso displayed tactical maturity, staying in third place through the first lap before making her decisive move at the 650m mark. She surged past Ethiopia’s Nigist Getachew down the home straight to secure the win, with Botswana’s Oratile Nowe finishing second in 1:57.49.

In addition to setting a personal best, Sekgodiso broke the long-standing meeting record of 1:57.72, held by Mozambican legend Maria Mutola since 2004.

Her next challenge will be at the prestigious Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon on July 5.

Douw Smit Impresses in Javelin

South African javelin thrower Douw Smit also delivered a standout performance, setting a new personal best of 84.12m to take second place.

Smit briefly led the competition, but ultimately had to settle for the runner-up spot behind India’s Olympic silver medallist and current world champion, Neeraj Chopra, who won with an 85.29m throw. Smit’s impressive series included four throws over 80m and a victory over Grenada’s former world champion, Anderson Peters (83.23m).

Mixed Results for South African 1,500m Runners

In the 1,500m events, Tshepo Tshite, fresh off setting a new South African record in Paris, finished ninth with a time of 3:34.14, below his record mark of 3:31.35. Fellow South African Luan Munnik also placed ninth in a separate 1,500m race, clocking 3:36.89

Full Article: IOL Sports News