Records just another hurdle for sprint sensation Alkana
Spadework had already been done leading up to perfect night in Prague
For Antonio Alkana, it was not a matter of if but when the Olympic semifinalist would smash the SA and African 110m hurdles record.
The historic moment arrived on Monday night, when his winning time of 13.11 seconds snared a national and continental record at the Josef Odlozil Memorial athletic meeting in the Czech Republic.
“I ran these times in training and I was just waiting for the breakthrough in my races,” Alkana told Sowetan from Prague yesterday, where his feat shattered the 13.24 set by Lehann Fourie in 2012.
“It gives me confidence for the rest of the season. The key now is to try and stay focused.”
The 27-year-old came close last year at the Rabat Diamond League meeting, when his personal best of 13.28 was 0.04 seconds short of the record.
His performance on Monday provisionally secured Alkana a ticket to the IAAF World Championships in London in August.
The magical run in Prague
‘‘ I ran these times in training and I was just waiting for the breakthrough
was built on the spadework that had already been done two months ago. Alkana breached the global champs’ entry standard (13.48) with a 13.47 performance at the provincial championships in March but his record run satisfied Athletics SA’s own criteria.
London will be his second championships after the sprinter from Brentwood Park in Blue Downs, Cape Town, debuted at the previous edition in China two years ago.
“The goal is to give it my best at every race leading up to world championships,” conluded Alakana, who was reeling from the pain of surrendering his title at the SA Championships in April.
“I’ll need my coach [Marcel Otto] to sharpen me up a bit when I’m done in Europe.”
Alkana will next line up at a the IAAF World Challenge meeting at the FBK Games meeting in Hengelo, Holland on Sunday.