Prudence Sekgodiso has reached the final at her first World Indoor Athletics Championships, where she produced the second-fastest time heading into the race for the medals.
The fast-rising South African, who achieved her goal in her inaugural Olympics when reaching the 800m final in Paris last year, arrived in Nanjing, China, as one of the favourites, following a string of impressive early-season performances.
She hasn’t disappointed and followed up her effort in the heats (where she won her race in 2min 03.89sec) with a second-place finish to the Swiss athlete, Audrey Werro. The latter stopped the clock in 2:01.11 and Sekgodiso followed her in 2:01.21.
A sub-2min time is on the cards in the final and will probably be necessary to win gold. Sekgodiso certainly is capable of that.
On the opening day Akani Simbine, a six-time global fourth- and fifth-place finisher, got the first major international individual medal of his career, clocking 6.54 for bronze in the men’s 60m.
South Africa has a representation of four athletes in Nanjing.
