Johannesburg - Former junior world champion Zeney van der Walt surprised herself on Friday when she won the 400m-hurdles in 55.36s during the Gauteng North Championships at Tuks, in Pretoria.
It is the second-fastest time of her career. The Tuks athlete can also boast of being the fastest female 400m-hurdler in the world, at least for now. More importantly, her speedy heroics mean she has qualified for the World Championships in Oregon, USA.
"I am shocked. I did not expect to be this fast so early in the season," said Van der Walt. The time I ran is close to what I did when I won the Under-20 world title in 2018."
According to Van der Walt, the most critical thing she focused on from last year was making sure she correctly executed the small things in her technique. To her, it is also about controlling the controllable when racing. Running her own race has become a major objective.
When complimented on her strong finish, Van der Walt said it had been a while since she felt so strong.
"When I got to the ninth hurdle, I felt in total control, and that is a nice feeling."
Tuks’s Taylon Bieldt set a new personal best finishing second in the 400m-hurdles running 55.91s.
WATCH - How Zeney van der Walt took gold in Tampere. She is also the world U18 champion from Nairobi 2017
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 14, 2018
Well done!#IAAFworlds pic.twitter.com/kIKctKIklH
There seems to be no stopping the 17-year-old Viwe Jingqi. Yesterday she won the women's under-18 200 metres in 23.36s. It is the second-fastest time ever by a South African youth athlete (under-18). She missed improving on Evette de Klerk's South African record by 0.06s. De Klerk clocked 23.30s on 2 April 1982.
Last month the Athletics Foundation Trust sponsored athlete set a new South African Under-18 record when she won the 100 metres in 11.47s. It was a fantastic performance considering that in 38 years and nearly four months, no South African under-18 sprinter had clocked such a fast time. Jingqi broke the record set by Mari-Lise Furstenburg on 5 November 1983 at Pilditch Stadium.
"I am very proud of myself because due to running into a headwind (0.1m/s), I did not expect to be so fast today (11/03/2022)," said the TuksSport High School learner.
She added that her top-end speed is not yet what it should be.
"I got to work on my finish. I had a good start, ran a nice bend, and at the back straight, but my last 20 metres were very bad. If I can improve on it, I know I will be faster. I might even get the record."
Jovan van Vuuren won the men's long jump setting a new personal best with his 8.16 metres attempt. It is also a world-leading performance.
According to the Tuks athlete, he did not plan on competing. His coach, Neil Cornelius, just informed him that he needed to jump on Wednesday.
"With my first attempt, I jumped 7.91 metres. I was surprised about how easy it felt. So, I was pretty keen to do a second jump. I did not expect it to be 8.16 metres. I thought my approach run was sort of lazy. And there are many other things in my technique that I still need to work on.
"But for now, I am happy. To set a world-leading performance in my first competition is remarkable. I have never opened with such a big jump. It is the confidence booster I needed. I know now I am capable of that one big jump this season."
IOL Sport