Middle-distance runner Charne Swart made a career breakthrough on Saturday, winning the women’s 800m race at the Athletics Gauteng North (AGN) league meeting at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria.
Swart completed the two-lap contest in 1:59.86, becoming the sixth South African woman to run under two minutes (2:00.00) over the 800m distance.
The 23-year-old athlete, who held off a challenge from Botswana’s Oratile Nowe (2:00.88), sliced 0.48 off her personal best of 2:00.34 which she clocked on the same Pilditch track in June last year.
Swart, who earned the bronze medal at the World Student Games in Chengdu in 2023 and won the national senior title in Pietermaritzburg last year, will be aiming to join Prudence Sekgodiso (who has already qualified) in the women’s 800m event at the World Championships in Tokyo later this season.
Though her new personal best is outside the automatic qualifying standard of 1:59.00, it seems clear that she can still go quicker. And if Swart can deliver consistent performances this year, she could also qualify for the global championships by raking in enough ranking points.
SA all-time list, 800m women
1 – 1:54.25, Caster Semenya (Paris, June 2018)
2 – 1:57.26, Prudence Sekgodiso (Marrakech, May 2024)
3 – 1:58.85 Zelda Pretorius (Pretoria, April 1991)
4 – 1:59.39 Ilse Wicksell (Stellenbosch, March 1983)
5 – 1:59.70 Eranee van Zyl (Stellenbosch, April 1983)
6 – 1:59.86 Charne Swart (Pretoria, March 2025)
7 – 2:00.99 Helga van Wermeskerk (Potchefstroom, April 1985)
8 – 2:01.50 Gena Lostrand (Lucerne, July 2017)
9 – 2:01.64 Marie-Louise Henning (Stellenbosch, April 1998)
10 – 2:02.43 Lebogang Phalula (Gqeberha, February 2006)
* Featured image by Reg Caldecott (Tuks)
