Semenya takes up a new challenge on the track

Caster Semenya might conquer a new distance this season judging by what happened on Saturday during the Gauteng North Athletics Championships at Tuks where she went on to win the 5000m.

Her winning time of 16:11.59 is nothing to get excited about, but then again it did not seem as if Semenya was seriously racing. It was more like she was getting a feel for what running the 5000m might entail if she should be forced by the IAAF to change events.

However, all of this is purely speculative. She could also have just wanted to compete in another race where there were no real expectations to be fast.

For the first few laps of the 5000m, Semenya, Xaba Glenrose and the youth athlete, Carmie Prinsloo, were taking turns to set the pace. As expected, it was Semenya who slowly but surely turned up the heat as she started to lap most of the other athletes.

Over the last three laps, Glenrose was also not able to keep up.

She eventually was second in 16:53.61 with Prinsloo third in 17:11.13. Earlier in the morning Semenya won the 1500m in 4:14.69.

Yesterday’s highlight was undoubtedly the performance of the Tuks hammer thrower, Margo Pretorius, who won in 61.75m becoming only the third South African female athlete to go past 60 metres. Her previous best was the 59.14m she threw during last year’s inaugural World Cup in London.

Two weeks ago Pretorius confidently predicted that she was ready for a big throw.

The other local athletes to have gone past 60 metres are Letitia Janse van Vuuren, who set a new South African record in 2017 with her effort of 63.82m, and Annemie Smith, who threw 60.99m in 2015.

In spite of being confident, Pretorius admits being slightly surprised by her performance.

“I tore some shoulder ligaments last year which meant I was in rehabilitation for eight months. I only seriously started training in February. Up to now we mostly focused on improving my technique. I have yet to start to do serious gym work.”

Her coach, Renaldo Frenchou (Tuks), who is still competing himself, won the men’s hammer throw with a distance of 68.05m. He joked afterwards saying that it is high time for him to take his throwing to the next level.

“If I am not careful Chené will soon be throwing further than I do,” said Frenchou, whose personal best distance is 70.34m. Two weeks ago in Germiston, he threw 69.30m.

Prudence Sekgodiso (TuksSport High School) truly impressed, winning the 800m in 2:03.98. The 17-year old’s time is faster than what Semenya ran when she was the same age. She is confident of running an even quicker time.

“I was hoping to do so during the South African Junior Championships. However, I am not going to be there as I am representing South Africa at the World Cross Country Championships in Denmark. It means I will have to chase a time of 2:02 something at the South African Senior Championships."

The coaches at Tuks have fine-tuned the art of getting new youngsters to challenge the stopwatch year after year. On Friday, Sinesipho Dambile from TuksSport High School won the under-18 200m race in a time of 20.43s. He was even faster in the semifinal, running 20.33s. Unfortunately, there were problems with the timekeeping, so the time is not official.

Dambile can still boast being one of the all-time fastest youth athletes on the IAAF rankings. Only six athletes have set faster times. His time of 20.43s is also a new national youth record.