Zeney Geldenhuys in action during the 400m hurdles semifinals at the Olympic Games in Paris. Picture: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
Though they narrowly missed out on places in the final, Zeney Geldenhuys and Rogail Joseph left it all out on the track on Tuesday night, running the races of their lives in the women’s 400m hurdles event at the Paris Olympics.
Geldenhuys took third place in her semifinal in 53.90, dipping under 54 seconds for the first time in her career and giving the 38-year-old South African record (53.74) a real shake, as she climbed to second place in the all-time national rankings in her specialist discipline.
The 24-year-old national champion was just 0.10 shy of securing a spot in the medal contest.
Joseph was also superb, taking third position in her semifinal in 54.12 and shattering her personal best of 54.56 which had been set in the first-round heats two days earlier.
Earlier on Tuesday night, South Africa’s 400m sprinters struggled in the men’s semifinals.
Zakithi Nene and Lythe Pillay, both running their third 400m races in three days after progressing through a repechage round, looked flat in the closing stages of their races.
Nene finished sixth in his race in 45.06 and Pillay was eighth in his semi in 45.24.
In other events on day 11 of the Paris Games, Miranda Coetzee set a personal best, taking second place in her 400m repechage in 50.66 and securing her spot in the semifinals to be held on Wednesday evening.
Elsewhere, on the water, the SA men’s kayak double pairing of Hamish Lovemore and Andrew Birkett took second position in their quarterfinal, booking their place in the semifinals to be held on Friday.
The women’s kayak double boat (Tiffany Koch and Esti Olivier) ended sixth in their quarterfinal, missing out on the semifinals.
In sport climbing, Lauren Mukheibir was unable to score in the women’s boulder semifinals and did not progress to the final.
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