South Africa will be represented by five athletes at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, from 21-23 March, 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).
