Prudence Sekgodiso was overwhelmed after booking a spot in her first Olympic final in sensational style, finishing second behind Britain’s Keeley Hodgkinson in a time of 1:57.57 to claim one of the two automatic qualification spots up for grabs in the 800m semifinal, at the Stade de France athletics stadium in Paris, France, on Sunday, 4 August, 2024.
Speaking afterwards, the beaming Sekgodiso said through tears: “You know from the warm-up everything was just emotional. My coach didn’t know what to say to me… Just go for it, just stick to our plan and here I am. I qualified with a big Q [automatic qualification].
“I’m so excited and I can’t wait for tomorrow’s final, I’m just going go rest and try to sleep.”
South African Middle Distance Star, Prudence Sekgodiso
Sekgodiso will line up for the 800m final at 9.47pm on Monday evening.
Earlier on the track, both Rogail Joseph and Zeney Geldenhuys safely negotiated their way through the first round of the 400m hurdles.
Joseph booked her semifinal spot by finishing second in her heat behind American Jasmine Jones in a new lifetime best of 54.56 seconds.
“I’m really excited for the semifinal,” said a thrilled Joseph afterwards.
“It was amazing, I can just give thanks to God. I didn’t expect it… I really panicked the last 100 when I saw ‘Yoh, you’re in front’, but I’m really grateful,” added the Potch-based athlete who was clearly still in pain after her race, and said she was also thankful for the day’s rest before the semifinal.
In the next heat, Geldenhuys finished third behind Dutch star Femke Bol and Jamaican Shiann Salmon to also secure automatic qualification for Tuesday’s semifinals in a time of 54.73 seconds.
The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist said she was more relaxed than usual.
“It was fine. It was actually, I must say, the first race that’s a huge international race where I represent my country where I actually enjoyed it, where the fear or anxiety or stress didn’t eat me up. I actually enjoyed it,” she said afterwards.
“My coach and I have been working on a lot of mental and relaxing stuff, so I must say that’s helping for me, so I’m just happy for that.”
Zeney Geldenhuys
Speaking about the race itself, Geldenhuys added: “Normally I’m last over the first hurdle and I think I was now with everybody over the first one. We have been training that first hurdle so actually I feel it was a good start.”
Meanwhile, over at Pont d’Iéna in the centre of Paris, SA cyclists Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Tiffany Keep lined up for the start of the women’s road race.
For Moolman-Pasio, even that was a victory after suffering a massive injury just two months ago.
“I can only really be proud of my effort today coming back from a T10 fracture of my vertebra eight weeks ago,” she said after finishing in 33rd place, five minutes behind American winner Kristin Faulkner.
“It’s actually just a miracle to be on the start line, to be honest, and considering all that, I think I did a really great race.”
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio
“I really wanted to try and get into an earlier breakaway to be away before the circuit because I knew that with no racing in the legs, I had a better endurance game rather than an explosivity game, but unfortunately that wasn’t to be.
“I’m just too much of a marked rider, even though I’m coming from injury and despite my efforts, I never managed to get away,” she added.
“I tried to change my mindset… but unfortunately just as we entered the climb at the Sacré-Cœur, there was a crash and I was caught behind the crash. Unfortunately I just never managed to make contact with the front of the race after that. So at the end of the day, I gave my all, I left it all out there, but it wasn’t meant to be today.”
Keep assisted Moolman-Pasio in the early parts of the race, but did not finish.
Team South Africa’s Women’s Contingent and Paris 2024 Broadcast Updates
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Saturday, 27 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Sunday, 28 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Monday, 29 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Tuesday, 30 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Wednesday, 31 July, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Thursday, 1 August, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Friday, 2 August, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Saturday, 3 August, 2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games Results on Sunday, 4 August, 2024
Athletics
400m Hurdles Round One – Rogail Joseph finished second in her heat behind American Jasmine Jones in a new lifetime best of 54.56 seconds to secure automatic qualification (Heat 2)
400m Hurdles Round One – Zeney Geldenhuys finished third behind Dutch star Femke Bol and Jamaican Shiann Salmon to secure automatic qualification in a time of 54.73 seconds. (Heat 3)
Cycling
Women’s Road Race – Ashleigh Moolman Pasio finished in in 33rd place, and Tiffany Keep did not finish the race
Athletics
Prudence Sekgodiso finished second in her 800m semi-final 3, qualifying automatically for Monday’s final
Schedule of Events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Sunday, 4 August, 2024
Athletics
11:55AM: Women’s 400m Round 1 – Miranda Coetzee (Heat 6)
Climbing
13:00: Women’s speed climbing qualification seeding heats- Aniya Holder (Heat A)
13:35: Women’s speed climbing qualification elimination heats – Aniya Holder (TBC)
Athletics
21:47: 800m final – Prudence Sekgodiso
Original Copy: Karien Jonckheere, with editing by gsport
Main Photo Caption: The Prudence Sekgodiso show filled South African hearts with pride on Sunday night, as the star SA middle-distance runner cruised home in second place to guarantee her berth as the fourth-fastest qualifier for Monday evening’s 800m final, at the Paris 2024 Games on Sunday, 4 August, 2024. Photo: Anton Geyser / Team SA
Photo 2 Caption: A thrilled Rogail Joseph booked her semifinal spot by finishing second in her heat behind Jasmine Jones in a new lifetime best. Photo: Anton Geyser / Team SA
Photo 3 Caption: Zeney Geldenhuys finished third behind Femke Bol and Shiann Salmon to also secure automatic qualification. Photo: Anton Geyser / Team SA
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