From Simbine to Manyonga and Geldenhuys, SA athletes take aim at Botswana Grand Prix

WHILE all eyes will be on Akani Simbine’s duel with Ferdinand Omanyala in the 100m in Botswana Grand Prix today, two South African women will be hoping to take the next big step in their careers.

- ASHFAK MOHAMED

The 400m hurdles pair of Zeney Geldenhuys and Rogail Joseph have been progressing steadily on the world rankings over the past few years.

But they really grabbed the attention of the hurdles world by reaching the semi-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics, and were unlucky to miss out on a spot in the final.

In fact, Geldenhuys was the ninth-quickest overall across the semi-finals, so she fell just short of the required time to rank eighth.

But she still managed to set a new personal best of 53.90 seconds as she ended in third place in her semi-final — over half-a-second faster than her previous mark of 54.47.

The 24-year-old Geldenhuys’ next target will be Myrtle Bothma’s 1986 South African record of 53.74 —and perhaps Saturday's event at the National Stadium in Gaborone is the place to do it, having run three 400m and 200m flat races each in recent weeks.