Paris Olympic finalist Prudence Sekgodiso has been in top form on the indoor circuit this year, but now she will venture outdoors in Wednesday’s opening Athletics SA Grand Prix I in Pretoria.
The 23-year-old 800m star from Limpopo will compete in the 1 500m event at Pilditch Stadium on Wednesday instead of her favourite two-lap race.
Sekgodiso is no slouch in the longer distance, with a personal best of 4:09.88, but considering her impressive start to 2025, she would want to lower that time on Wednesday.
Caster Semenya’s 1 500m SA record of 3:59.92 may not be on Sekgodiso’s radar just yet, but she did break the national 800m record earlier this year at events in Germany and France, where she set a time of 1:59.88.
On Wednesday, Sekgodiso’s main competition will most likely come from 21-year-old starlet Danielle Verster – the daughter of former SA middle-distance stalwart and now coach Jean.
The stand-out field event on Wednesday will be the men’s long jump, where Olympic silver medallist Luvo Manyonga will continue with his comeback to serious competition.
Manyonga has been out of action for a few years due to drug addiction and other personal problems outside the long-jump pit, which saw him also receive a four-year ban for missing a drugs test.
But he made a return in an invitational event in Stellenbosch last week, where he finished third with a 7.31m effort.
The 34-year-old Manyonga – who won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the gold medal at the 2017 world championships in London – will hope to be pushed to greater heights by Jovan van Vuuren on Wednesday.
Van Vuuren qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics with a personal-best jump of 8.30m at Pilditch Stadium last year March in the corresponding event, and will be eager to leap to a qualifying distance of 8.27m for the world championships.
The men’s 100m race will also be one to watch. Kenyan superstar Ferdinand Omanyala will be the absolute favourite in the field, considering his personal best of 9.77 seconds.
But this is the start of his season as well, so he may not be at his very best.
That will see SA 200m star Luxolo Adams come into the equation, after his controversial omission from the Paris Olympics due to injury.
Adams will want to prove a point by qualifying for the world championships, and the mark of 10 seconds flat is not entirely out of his reach as he has a 100m personal best of 10.13.
Other notable athletes to keep an eye on will be Botswana star Letsile Tebogo and SA’s Zakithi Nene in the 400m, and Kyle Blignaut in the shot put.