Rogail Joseph, one of South Africa’s two 400m hurdlers, hobbled through the mixed zone on Sunday to advance to the semifinals of the Paris Olympics.
The coaching sciences student from Worcester in the Western Cape finished second in her heat in 54.56 seconds, while Zeney Geldenhuys finally had a major international race and finished third in 54.73.
Geldenhuys, the national champion, finished behind Dutch star Femke Bol (53.38) and Jamaican Shiann Salmon (53.96).
‘I must say [that’s] 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 this race,’ said Geldenhuys, a world champion at under-18 and under-20.
Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images
‘My coach and I have been working on a lot of mental and relaxing stuff so I must say that’s helping.’
They had also worked on speeding up her start, particularly over the first hurdle, which worked well, and as she entered the home straight, she noticed two others close by, threatening to take the final third automatic qualifying spot.
‘I just told myself now go,’ said Geldenhuys, the bronze medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where Salmon took silver.
Joseph’s legs ached, but she was beaming. ‘I am very excited for the semifinals. I had not expected that… I really panicked in the last 100 when I saw ‘yoh, you are in front’, but I am very grateful,’ said Joseph, who finished behind Jasmine Jones of the United States (53.60).
Joseph stated that she would be ready for the next round on Tuesday night.
‘At least there’s a day to recover for the semifinals and I will be ready. I’m just going to see the physio and then I’m going to do ice-baths and stay in my room.’
Other members of Team SA, Lythe Pillay and Zakithi Nene will return on Monday to compete in the newly introduced repechage round after failing to advance from their heats.
They ran out of gas on the home stretch.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout finished 16th overall in the men’s golf tournament, nine shots behind American winner Scottie Scheffler, with a score of 10 under par 274.
Briton Tommy Fleetwood was second on 18 under, with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama one stroke behind. Erik Van Rooyen finished 17th with 275.
In the women’s road cycle race, South Africa’s Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio finished 33rd in 4hr 04 min 23 sec, about five minutes behind the winner, American Kristen Faulkner. Tiffany Keep was unable to complete it.
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This article was first written by Murray Swart for CapeTownETC.
