SA middle-distance star Prudence Sekgodiso aims for records after first major medal

Prudence Sekgodiso runs behind Nigist Getachew in the 800m heats at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, on 21 March. Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

30 Mar 2025

The athlete has gone from Olympic heartbreak to indoor gold – with more to come.

Prudence Sekgodiso (23) is quickly turning into South Africa’s golden girl on the track. The potential to be among the cream of the crop globally in the 800m has been there since her attendance at TuksSport High School, where she was a star athlete at an institution filled exclusively with elite athletes.

The middle-distance runner had a breakout year in 2024, achieving several milestones, but her incredible performance at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, on Sunday, 23 March, has made her a name to watch.

Sekgodiso, who also ran the 1,500m, claimed a gold medal in the 800m at the championships. It was South Africa’s second medal of the weekend after sprinter Akani Simbine (31) had claimed bronze in the 60m sprint two days earlier – his first major global medal. Simbine had made the final of six major individual finals before this one, but never made it to the podium.

For Sekgodiso, who is still at the start of her running journey, this was her second global final after the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and her first medal. She clinched it in fantastic fashion too, outsprinting the pack – which included 2024 Olympics silver medallist Tsige Duguma from Ethiopia. Second-placed Nigist Getachew, also from Ethiopia, was more than 10m behind her.

Sekgodiso timed the rapid race perfectly, sitting behind the pair – who set the pace – for the first 600m before shooting ahead of them in the last lap to finish in 1:58.40, beating her own national record as well as setting a world-leading time.

“I knew I had a medal, but the gold one came as a shock,” the speedster said upon her arrival back in South Africa. “The competition was amazing. I thought the Ethiopians were going to win it, but here I am. I came first and I’m happy.”

Coach Samuel Sepeng too was confident that his athlete would secure a medal, particularly after all the American middle-distance runners failed to make it past the semifinals. “We were in the top five [heading into the championships] with the time, so, to be honest, a medal is something we went with – the goal of getting a medal on the podium,” Sepeng told Daily Maverick.

Prudence Sekgodiso shortly after winning the 800m on 23 March 2025. (Photo: Hannah Peters / Getty Images)

A new event

Despite the incredible achievement in Nanjing, this was Sekgodiso’s first season racing indoors. Previously, she raced exclusively on an outdoor track, since South Africa doesn’t have any indoor tracks.

She built her confidence racing on the World Athletics Indoor tour in January and February, where she broke the national record in the event three times, moving from an opening time of 2:02.30 before bringing it down to 1:59.88.

Sepeng said that once Sekgodiso got below an indoor running time of two minutes, “that’s when we took the decision [that] we’ll go to the World Indoor Championship”.

After her speedy rise in the indoor circuit, Sekgodiso has found a new love for racing under a roof, where external factors like wind do not play a role in how fast she is able to run.

“I enjoy indoors more than outdoors,” she said. “It’s different; it is not the same thing. Now I’m going to do a lot indoors.”

Becoming the best

Sekgodiso’s performances last year were the building blocks for her excellent start to this season. Among her standout showings was bringing her personal best performance on the outdoor track down to 1:57.26 on her way to two Diamond League wins.

However, she faltered in both her big finals in 2024, placing last in the Diamond League and Olympic finals. On both occasions she was in a medal position at the 400m stage of the race, but her legs couldn’t carry her to a strong finish, as lactic acid would build up.

Although Sekgodiso admits to still perfecting her craft, she has big ambitions for the rest of the season. “The plan is to run 1.55 by the end of this year and I think everything will come together. I’m just going back to my training,” she said.

That’s no easy feat: Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson from Great Britain, the standard bearer in the event, ran 1:56.72 to take gold in Paris.

The 1.55 mark will edge Sekgodiso closer to the South African record of 1:54.25 set by Caster Semenya, the country’s greatest athlete in the distance thus far.

“I know now people expect a lot from me,” Sekgodiso said. “Whenever I step on the track they will be like, ‘she has to be in the top three every time’, but I’m going to do what I do best and show the world who I am.

Prudence Sekgodiso runs behind Nigist Getachew in the 800m heats at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, on 21 March 2025. (Photo: Lintao Zhang / Getty Images)

“What Caster achieved in the past is a long-term goal for me; I know she has the outdoor record. I think that’s something my coach and I will work on – to be where she was,” she added.

For Sepeng, who also represented South Africa in middle-distance races and has coached the new indoor champion since high school, winning and seeing progress are more important than just the times Sekgodiso runs.

“If you take Duguma’s time, she’s a 1.55, 1.56 runner. And throwing her the way we did on Sunday shows that we’re one of the best in the world. So, regardless of the time that [Sekgodiso] is running, you know, it’s more about the progress.”

And that progress has been rapid. Sekgodiso broke the two-minute mark for the first time in 2022, made an Olympic final two years later and has now become an indoor champion. With age on her side and a coach who knows her like the back of his hand, the future is bright for the talented runner from the small village of Medingen, about 30km north of Tzaneen. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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