A Worcester source of SA Olympians
● For a dorpie, Worcester is punching well above its weight when it comes to producing Olympians.
The Western Cape town had its second Games athlete confirmed at the national championships in Pietermaritzburg this week when hurdler Rogail Joseph gave Zeney Geldenhuys a tough race over 400m, with both dipping under the qualifying time for the Paris showpiece later this year.
The now-retired Wenda Nel, also a 400m hurdler, went to Worcester Gymnasium, the same high school that Joseph attended.
Two Olympians out of a population of about 130,000 is a better return than the global average. One could even claim a third in Cornel Fredericks, another 400m hurdler, who was born in Worcester but grew up near Caledon.
Competition is growing in sectors of local women’s track and field, with two Paris 2024 qualifiers in the 400m hurdles and a full complement of three in the marathon.
The men’s events with multiple qualifiers are the 400m, with three, and the 200m with two.
There are signs that women’s athletics is on the up.
Joseph’s road to the Olympics has hardly been paved with gold, growing up in a household with four siblings, where love exceeded means.
She paid to fly her parents — her dad works in construction and her mother for the municipality — to watch her in action this week. “It’s the first time they’ve seen her compete outside their home province,” said Rodney Booysen, who coached her through school.
It was her father who brought her as a youngster to Booysen, a deputy principal, to train. “It was tough. Money was always tight... But we could only take her to a certain level. We didn’t have the facilities and specialisation,” added Booysen.
So Joseph headed to North-West University, where after a couple of coaches she joined Paul Gorries, the national relays coach. “It’s the first time I’m so close to the winners at senior nationals, so I can feel like I’m on the right track… I’m so excited to see what more we can do,” said Joseph, a thirdyear coaching science student, who clocked a 54.84sec best.
Geldenhuys — the winner in 54.72, the second-best time of her career after the 54.47 she ran to win Commonwealth Games bronze in 2022 — crossed the line with a smile on her face. “Just to see the Olympic qualifying time on the board ... I was just so happy with that.”
She missed out on the Tokyo Games in cruel fashion, ending just one world ranking point behind the last qualifier, Yasmin Giger of Switzerland.
On the final weekend of qualification, Geldenhuys ran the faster time of 56.15 to 56.74, earning 50 points more. She received a further 10 points for running in a category F league meet in Pretoria, while Giger got a deal-breaking 50 points for racing at the Category C event.
Van der Walt grew up in the shadow of Nel, a two-time Olympian, and now she’s graduated to front-runner. “I think maybe I would have just missed that Olympic time if Rogail wasn’t pushing me.”
Competition was driving the standard up, she added. “It’s just athletes setting the bar. To know that there is someone older than you and faster than you, you just go for that to also reach those times.”
Behind the two of them, 16-year-old Prestige College Grade 11 pupil Tumi Ramokgopa crossed the line in 57.04 to break the national under-18 record and stretch her lead at the top of the 2024 under18 world list.
“I don’t think so,” Ramokgopa replied when asked if she would have gone that fast without Geldenhuys and Joseph. “I feel that challenge pushes me.”
The women’s 400m hurdles seems to be in good health for years to come.