Making progress: SA’s women hurdlers are breaking new ground

While South Africa is more competitive in some track and field events at international level than we are in others, it is promising to see real progress being made in disciplines which have traditionally seen us struggling to punch above our weight.

In the women’s hammer throw, for example, multiple athletes have broken the South African record in recent years, with Leandri Geel lifting the mark to 66.11 metres.

And while their results have hardly been worth shouting about in terms of performance, with Geel still more than seven metres outside the automatic qualifying standard of 73.60m just to book her place at the World Championships in Budapest next month, they have to start somewhere and the advancements being made are worth celebrating.

100m hurdles

Similarly, while SA has not produced any global stars in the women’s 100m hurdles since readmission, local athletes have been gradually narrowing the gap.

Corien Botha’s national record of 12.94 had stood for two decades before Rikenette Steenkamp brought it down to 12.81 in 2018.

Steenkamp has since retired, but two other athletes have emerged as real prospects, and between them they are taking the discipline to new heights.

Marione Fourie, a 21-year-old 100m hurdles specialist, had been widely tipped as the successor to Steenkamp, but she was pipped to the post by versatile athlete Taylon Bieldt – better known as a 400m hurdler – who delivered a stunning performance by clocking 12.76 at a meeting in Italy last month.

Fourie came good last week, however, when the three-time national champion was rewarded for her consistency by stopping the clock at 12.55 at the Resisprint International in Switzerland.

READ MORE: Hurdles star Marione Fourie ‘amazed’ by record-breaking form

Even Fourie admitted she was stunned by the result, as she ripped a massive chunk off the SA best, which has now been improved by nearly half a second (0.41) in the last five years.

Since Botha retired from elite competition in the late Nineties, the women’s 100m hurdles event had remained stagnant, but three athletes have shown how a mix of consistent hard work and exciting domestic rivalries can raise the standard.

Bieldt competes in a wide range of disciplines, and while there is little doubt that she can go even quicker, she will need to focus on the short sprint over the barriers if she wants to challenge Fourie any further.

Rising star

Fourie has really bashed down the door, climbing to 10th place in the 2023 world rankings and displaying such tremendous potential that she is now being touted as a future medallist at major global championships.

Of course, there are multiple events in which South Africa is still trailing the world’s best by some distance, but Fourie and her compatriots have ensured their discipline has made so much progress it can no longer be included in that pile.

And if they keep chipping away, the country’s top women hammer throwers can get there too.

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