Versatile teenager Tumi Ramokgopa delivered another spectacular performance on Friday, breaking her own South African junior 100m hurdles record at the Curro Podium National Regionals schools meeting held at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria.
Competing for Prestige College, 18-year-old Ramokgopa won the junior women’s race in 13.15 seconds, finishing more than two seconds ahead of her nearest opponent.
Ramokgopa took 0.07 off the SA U20 record of 13.22 she set at the ASA Grand Prix meeting held at UJ Stadium in Johannesburg in March.
One of the most talented young athletes in the country, Ramokgopa is equally capable in the 100m and 400m hurdles events.
Last year she set a national U18 record in the 400m hurdles, completing the one-lap race in 57.04 at the SA Senior Championships in Pietermaritzburg.
She also stopped the clock at 55.90 at this year’s SA Senior Championships in Potchefstroom where she earned the 400m hurdles silver medal. Former world junior champion Zeney van der Walt, who ran 55.05 in Pretoria in 2018, is the only South African U20 athlete to have gone quicker.
* Featured image of Tumi Ramokgopa by Cecilia van Bers
