And the winner is … |
ADRIAAN WILDSCHUTT |
And the winner is … |
PRUDENCE SEKGODSIO |
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As well as the other nominees in this category performed , there really could be only one winner , after the year that US-based Adriaan Wildschutt had , rewriting the record books of South African athletics in the process . On 6 May , he clocked 27:23.10 for 10,000m in Walnut , California , USA , finally bettering Hendrick Ramaala ’ s venerable 1999 mark of 27:29.84 , and on 15 July he ran 13:02.46 for 5000m in Heusden-Zolder , Belgium , knocking off Elroy Gelant ’ s 2016 mark of 13:04.88 . Just five days later , on 20 July , Adriaan posted a 7:39.25 for 3000m in Luzern , Switzerland , to take down Jerry Motsau ’ s 7:40.99 record of 2021 . That ’ s three SA Records in just 11 weeks !
Next on the agenda was a second World Champs outing in August , where Adriaan ran a gutsy race in the 10,000m to finish 14th in 28:21.40 , and then , while taking a short running holiday back home in South Africa in September-October , he decided to run his first road race since 2017 at the Sanlam Cape Town 10km Peace Run on 14 October , and clocked 27:53 to become the fourth-fastest South African ever on a record-eligible course .
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Unfortunately , Prudence ’ s 2023 season will be remembered by some for the wrong reasons , after she and the USA ’ s Athing Mu tangled and tripped during the semi-final of the 800m at the World Champs in Budapest . While Athing , the 2020 Olympic and 2022 World Champion , was able to claw her way back into a qualifying spot in that semi , and went to take the bronze medal in the final , Prudence saw her hopes of World Champs glory dashed by the fall . It was especially disappointing , since she had clocked 1:59.72 in the opening round to book her semifinal place , and was looking really strong .
That was her fourth sub-2:00 of a really good season , in which she finished the year ranked 19th in her event . It was also a year that saw her double at the SA Champs , with wins in both the 800m and 1500m . Good news is that just before this magazine was published , Prudence clocked a new PB of 1:58:05 in a league meet in Tshwane , improving on the 1:58.41 she ran in 2022 , and giving her a qualifying time for the Paris Olympics later this year .
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And the winner is … |
CHESWILL JOHNSON |
And the winner is … |
KARMEN FOUCHE |
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With personal bests of 10.18 for 100m and 20.99 for 200m , Cheswill brings raw speed into his long-jumping , and that helped him soar to a best of 8.26 metres in 2021 . And while his focus appears to be on the long jump , he clearly still relishes the sprints , as he made the final of the 100m at the SA Champs in 2023 , finishing sixth . However , it was the long jump where he enjoyed the most success at those national champs , taking the SA Champs title with a 7.95m leap .
Having jumped over eight metres twice in the build-up to the Budapest World Champs in August , Cheswill would likely have been disappointed with his 7.62 best in the qualifying round , which meant he did not progress to the final round , but he ended the year ranked 24th in the world on points for the season , a bit higher than his 28th place finish in Budapest , so his fans will be hoping that he can find his eight-metre forma again for the Paris Olympics this year .
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Karmen got her year off to a highflying start , taking her person best from 6.31 metres to 6.56 metres at the Central North West provincial champs in March . As a result , her best of 6.25 at the SA Champs a few weeks later may have felt a bit below par , but it was good enough to clinch the silver medal . She then ‘ doubled ’ at the USSA Champs in Bloemfontein , taking the gold medal for the student champs in both the long jump and high jump competitions . She also represented SA at the FISU World University Games in Chengdu , China , in August , finishing ninth in the final . That saw her finish the year ranked 77th in the world on points , and 85th in terms of her performance , both of which were the highest positions achieved a South African female jumper in 2023 . |
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