Some of Africa’s top track and field athletes will compete at the Tshwane leg of the ASA Grand Prix series to be held at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria on Wednesday.
We take a look at six individuals who are expected to deliver standout performances.
Ferdinand Omanyala (100m)
A regular performer on SA soil, Omanyala returns in an attempt to open his 2025 season with a bang.
The Kenyan star, who holds the African 100m record of 9.77 seconds (set in Nairobi in 2021), will line up as the firm favourite in the men’s short dash.
His toughest challenges are likely to come from former SA 200m champion Luxolo Adams, as well as experienced campaigners Emile Erasmus and Mark Odhiambo.
Letsile Tebogo (400m)
One of the best sprinters on the global circuit, Tebogo has also become a regular performer on SA soil in recent years.
The 21-year-old rocket from Botswana won the Olympic 200m title last season, after securing two medals at the 2023 World Championships, and he will be among the favourites to return to the podium at the global championships in Tokyo later this year.
Still in the early stages of the 2025 campaign, Tebogo will make a rare appearance over the 400m distance at Pilditch, where he faces the likes of Zakithi Nene and Sinesipho Dambile.
Prudence Sekgodiso (1500m)
Having firmly established herself as South Africa’s top 800m runner, Olympic finalist Sekgodiso will have a go over the 1 500m distance, and she looks ready to tear up the track.
She has already dipped under two minutes on two occasions in the 800m event on the European indoor circuit this season, and if Sekgodiso has a good run, she should challenge her 1 500m personal best of 4:09.88.
Ahead of the World Indoor Championships in China next month, Sekgodiso has a chance to showcase her form on home soil, and she is unlikely to be challenged in the battle for victory.
Charne Swart (800m)
With Sekgodiso running the metric mile, Swart will line up as the favourite over two laps, after becoming the sixth South African woman to dip under two minutes at an Athletics Gauteng North league meeting last month when she set a personal best of 1:59.86 on the same Pilditch track.
She won’t have it all her own way, however, with Olympic athlete Oratile Nowe of Botswana likely to put up a strong fight.
Nowe, who set a Botswana national record of 1:59.69 in Cape Town last year, will be hungry to upstage an in-form Swart.
Marione Fourie (100m hurdles)
Technically efficient and lightning fast, Fourie has emerged as a potential world beater in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Last year, she made a huge breakthrough by setting a South African record of 12.49 seconds in her specialist event, which placed her third in the African all-time list behind world record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria (12.12) and Amusan’s compatriot Glory Alozie (12.44).
Fourie will look to climb the international ladder even higher in the 2025 season, and the ASA Grand Prix will provide a good platform to launch her campaign.
Kyle Blignaut (shot put)
A former world junior champion, Blignaut has threatened for some time to shatter the ceiling and join the global elite in his specialist discipline at senior level.
He reached the final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and while he has since struggled to regain his footing after losing his coach and moving his base to Italy, he remains one of South Africa’s most promising athletes at the highest level.
After going over 19 metres twice on the European indoor circuit in February, we’ll get a better idea of what he has in the bag this year when he turns out in the capital city.
* Featured image of Letsile Tebogo by Cecilia van Bers
