Middle-distance runner Charne Swart has a bright future on the track

There were some awesome performances at the Cape Milers Club/Endurocad middle-distance track meeting in Cape Town on Monday night.

In particular, Ryan Mphahlele and Tshepo Tshite were locked in another thrilling battle for the line.

In a repeat of the men’s 1,500m race at the same meeting last year, Mphahlele again came out on top, pushing the pace and taking the sting out of Tshite’s kick.

Mphahlele, just two days after setting a national mile record on the road in Germany (3:56.45), won the race in 3:33.52 (narrowly missing out on qualifying for this year’s Paris Olympics) and Tshite was second in 3:33.76.

Swart digs deep

The best effort of the night, however, belonged to an athlete who didn’t even win her race: Charne Swart.

The women’s 800m contest had been billed as an opportunity for Botswana’s Oratile Nowe to qualify for the Paris Games.

Paced by her training partner, South African Prudence Sekgodiso (who has already booked her place in the national team for the Olympics), Nowe went out very hard. A little too hard.

Sekgodiso, inexperienced at pacing at that level, was too quick over the first lap, and Nowe was left to claw her way to the line in the closing stages.

Swart, who started more conservatively, launched a remarkable comeback on the second lap, and while nobody had really given her a chance before the race, she managed to close the gap.

Unfortunate collision

When Sekgodiso stepped off the track, Swart was on Nowe’s tail, but again Sekgodiso’s inexperience at pacing played a role, as she put on the brakes and collided with Swart.

Despite being the underdog, and having to work her way past her compatriot, Swart did not give up and gave it everything to the line.

Nowe eventually won in 1:59.69, and while she did not achieve the Olympic qualifying standard (1:59.30) she did break her own Botswana national record. And 22-year-old Swart was rewarded with a new personal best of 2:00.71 in second place.

We don’t always have to wait for athletes to produce lightning fast times to recognise their talent. Sometimes, the guts and determination they show when the odds are stacked against them are enough.

Watch Charne Swart. She’s got a very bright future on the track.