Prudence Sekgodiso is planning to run like “a crazy person” at the Paris Olympics where she is relishing the prospect of a rematch against British 800m favourite Keely Hodgkinson.
The middle distance star was relaxed and open in an interview this week at the South African track-and-field team’s training camp in the sweltering resort town of Montpellier, talking about her weaknesses and how she is considering using chewing gum to fix her bad habit of looking behind her mid-race.
Sekgodiso established herself as an Olympic medal contender by winning two Diamond League meets and setting a 1min 57.26sec personal best that ranks her joint seventh on the world list. She is one of three 22-year-olds in the national squad who pack the potential to carry South African athletics into the future, alongside 100m hurdler Marioné Fourie and discus-thrower Francois Prinsloo.
But to demand that they secure silverware at the showpiece would be placing unnecessary pressure on them.
It might happen that I’ll be in the top three and that’s what I want
— Prudence Sekgodiso, SA middle distance runner
Sekgodiso is cutting out the white noise. “I feel nervous and excited at the same time. I just want to go there and enjoy [myself]. Currently I’m ignoring social media, I want to stay away from Instagram and Facebook. I’m learning each [time I] race. That’s what I’m going to do now at the Olympics as well.”
Sekgodiso is set to compete in the heats at Stade de France on Friday evening, with the semifinals next Sunday and the final the following night. A repêchage round has been introduced, offering runners an extra avenue to the semifinals.
Her plan is to ensure she finishes in the top three in the first round to progress directly to the semifinals, where she was eliminated at the world championships in Budapest last year, after falling on the track early on the second lap.
The athlete doesn’t want a repeat of that on the largest stage of world athletics. “Semis, I’m going to run for my life because they only take the top two. Last year I fell. I want to stay far from those girls. I want to be on my own and just run and run like a crazy person, and just be in the final. And also, in the final, anything can happen.”
Suddenly her own bubbly enthusiasm erupted into confidence: “It might happen that I’ll be in the top three and that’s what I want.”
Then she curbed her optimism. “The main goal actually [is] to be in the final.”
Sekgodiso feels she is better prepared now than she was for Hungary. “Already in the first 100m I was tired. And after that fall my legs shut [down]. So now I feel like I’m ready for anything. I’m just going to give it [my] all. I’m hoping for a fast semi.”
In her last outing at Hengelo, Sekgodiso finished second behind world leader Hodgkinson, who cruised away on the final bend to win comfortably. “I think I respected her too much, but now we’ve got to chase her. I regretted that after that race, I was like ‘nah, let’s go again, let’s repeat the race’.”
Sekgodiso admitted she and coach Samuel Sepeng were working to improve her end game. “I feel like I need to fix my last 250m, especially the last 100m. That’s where I hold back most of the time. That’s where I’m lacking basically. I have this other problem. I look at the [big] screen too much or look behind, and that’s where I lose momentum.
“It’s something that I need to fix myself. There’s nothing that my coach can do about it because that’s me. I need to think about something else, maybe take bubblegum with me [to chew] in the race. I think that will help because I’ve trained with it before.”
Unlike some athletes, Pretoria-based Sekgodiso, who originally hails from Ga-Kgapane Medingen near Tzaneen, won’t have her mother or other family at the Games to cheer for her. “I don’t have that support structure yet, but in future I’m going to travel with them.”
Wearing sandals in the Mediterranean heat, it was clear Sekgodiso pays as much attention to her toenails as she does to her fingernails, which featured longish stick-ons. The cosmetic falsies come with challenges. “It’s so difficult to tie my shoelaces,” she said with a laugh. “My coach has to help me.”
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