Ahead of the 2025 season, we take a look at five elite South African track and field athletes who are expected to make an impact on the international circuit this year.
Akani Simbine
South Africa’s fastest man is also one of the country’s most consistent sport stars in any code, and if we can bank on anyone to perform this year, it’s Simbine.
Last season he finished fourth in the Olympic 100m final – his sixth top-five finish at a major global championship – and he anchored the SA team to the silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the Paris Games.
He also dipped under 10 seconds for the 10th season in a row, and he lowered his own national 100m record to 9.82 seconds.
Simbine has the speed, experience and composure to step on the podium at this year’s World Championships in Tokyo, and he should again lead a powerful relay squad that will be gunning for the world title.
Jo-Ane van Dyk
This time last year, if you asked most South Africans if they knew of Van Dyk, they would likely have responded: ‘Jo-Ane who?’.
Over the space of a few days last season, however, she catapulted herself into the limelight.
Not that she was an overnight sensation – Van Dyk won gold at the last two editions of the African Championships – but she stunned just about everyone with her performances at the Olympic Games.
In the qualifying round she launched a 64.22m personal best, and she went on to secure the silver medal in the final.
She will need to find more consistency this season, and she might need to go bigger if she wants a medal at the World Championships in Tokyo, but after her breakthrough 2024 campaign, Van Dyk has the world at her feet.
Prudence Sekgodiso
One of South Africa’s most popular track athletes, Sekgodiso is as brutal as she is elegant.
A trend setter off the track, the middle-distance runner never seems to have a hair out of place, and she would look as well suited on a magazine cover as she would on the start line of an Olympic final.
But when the gun goes, Sekgodiso ain’t playing, and her two Diamond League victories last year proved that she is well on her way to becoming a household name.
The more she learns about tactical racing, and the stronger she becomes, the better she will get.
And if they haven’t yet taken much notice of the 23-year-old South African, the world’s best 800m runners had better brace themselves this year. Sekgodiso is coming.
Adriaan Wildschutt
Wildschutt has taken South African distance running on the track to a whole new level over the last few seasons, and he doesn’t look like he’s slowing down anytime soon.
A gutsy athlete who isn’t afraid to mix it with the best, Wildschutt is a well-rounded, composed individual and his methodical approach has seen him breaking new ground over every distance from 3 000m to 10 000m.
Last year he shattered six South African records (dipping under 13 minutes over 5 000m and 27 minutes over 10 000m) and he finished 10th in the 10 000m final at the Olympic Games after clinging to the lead group for most of the race.
This season, he will hope to prove he’s not just fast, but he can also win international races and medals, and if he continues on his upwards trajectory, he’s going to be difficult to beat.
Benjamin Richardson
Tall and powerful, Richardson has the ability to become one of South Africa’s all-time great sprinters, and he took another giant leap forward last season.
A three-time former medallist at the World U20 Championships, the 21-year-old rocket dipped under 10 seconds over 100m and 20 seconds over 200m during the 2024 campaign.
At the Olympics, he did well to reach the 100m semifinals, narrowly missing out on a place in the final, and while the rest of his campaign at the Paris Games was derailed by injury, he should be back with a bang this year.
* Featured image of Akani Simbine courtesy of Anton Geyser/Sascoc
