Steenkamp already in fine form
Hurdler getting closer to breaking through magical 13 second mark
Rikenette Steenkamp is on the cusp of becoming only the second South African woman to break through the 13 second barrier in the 100m hurdles after leapfrogging to second place on the all-time list.
Steenkamp chopped 0.12s off her previous best clocking 13.04 seconds at an Athletics Gauteng North (AGN) league meeting in Pretoria at the weekend.
Although Steenkamp demonstrated she was in good early season form, wind and a faulty timing system has made it difficult to gauge her true potential so far this year.
She opened her season with a wind-aided 13.14secs in Johannesburg before she clocked a legal time of 13.24secs.
At last weekend’s AGN Championships in Pretoria she posted a time of 13.02secs with a +2.6 s/m wind behind her.
“You want to know where you really are, although the wind behind us isn’t always ideal because it pushes you closer to the hurdles,” Steenkamp said.
The 24-year-old Steenkamp stopped the clock 0.10secs short of Corien Botha’s national record of 12.94secs she posted in Salamanca, Spain in 1998.
“I don’t obsess over dipping below 13 seconds but your mind does wander that way, it is part of the dream, it is part of the goal,” Steenkamp explained.
“At the moment I focus on running a good hurdles race, and then I believe it will happen.”
Finishing behind Steenkamp, Claudia Heunis also posted a new personal best when she crossed the line in a time of 13.23secs.
Heunis improved her lifetime best by 0.12secs lifting her to joint ninth place on the all-time list with Sanet Fouche.
“The time came completely out of the blue, Wednesday I ran 13.56 seconds in Germiston, so today I just came to support Rikenette,” Heunis said.
Meanwhile, Athletics SA (ASA) has threatened to with- draw its support to athletes that did not participate in the recent four-leg Speed Series.
Although it was never a prerequisite to race in the events, ASA has expressed its ire that some athletes on the 2017 ASA Preparation Squad did not enter any of the four events.
“ASA has noted that some athletes on the 2017 ASA Preparation Squad, chose to participate in other events rather than participating in the Speed Series,” ASA chief executive Richard Stander said in a circular.
“ASA now has to reconsider its support to athletes on the ASA Preparation Squads who chose to participate in events other than the Speed Series.
“This may also result in the exclusion of the mentioned athletes form ASA national teams to international events.”
During a meeting with athletes in November 2016, ASA made no mention that athletes had to participate in the Speed Series as a prerequisite for national selection.
Instead athletes who post qualifying times for the IAAF World Championships in London also needed to attend the national championships in Potchefstroom next month.
Next month’s two-day championships will clash with the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas and athletes would be excused from the Potchefstroom meeting should they be selected for the Caribbean.
ASA also expressed its disappointment with athletes on the preparation squad that did not attend the relay camp.
“ASA embarked on the preparation of Relay Teams to represent South Africa at the 2017 IAAF World Championships,” Stander said.
“It goes without saying that these relay teams must first qualify before they can be entered for the 2017 IAAF World Championships.
“Here again, ASA noted that athletes in the ASA National Preparation Squad did not avail themselves for relay training and/or competitions, but chose to participate in events, other than the Speed Series.” Ntate