On Saturday (25 March) Rikenette Steenkamp proved that she is capable of dipping under 13 seconds in the 100m-hurdles after winning the 100m-hurdles in a time of 13.04s at a league meeting which took place at Tuks Athletics Stadium.
This might just happen on Friday at the Varsity Athletics Meeting taking place at the Tuks Athletics Stadium.
The Tuks athlete is now officially the second fastest South African female athlete in 100m-hurdles history. Corien Botha is the only women who ran a faster time of 12.94s in 1991 thus setting a new national record in Salamanca.
Steenkamp was relieved after clocking in a legal time. She performed brilliantly in Bloemfontein and Pretoria by running respective times of 13.09s and 13.02s. Whether the timing system worked properly during the ASA Speed Series-meeting in Bloemfontein remains debatable. Last week during the Gauteng North Championships the wind from behind was too strong. It was not the only time this season that the wind robbed Steenkamp from registering a fast time. In her first race in Johannesburg she ran 13.14s but due to the windy conditions her time was not official.
Racing with the wind at your back doesn’t make things any easier. Steenkamp said that the wind makes things difficult for a hurdler as it pushes them closer to the hurdles making it difficult to keep your stride length.
The Tuks athlete made it clear that she is not obsessed with the thought of running a sub-13 second race. What is more important to her is executing her race to perfection.
“If I execute the race perfectly I will run a fast time, but I must admit that I do think about dipping under 13 seconds every now and then. It is a goal that propels me to keep pushing myself beyond my own physical barriers.”
Steenkamp was full of praise for the role that her training partner and friend, Claudia Heunis (Tuks Athletics) played in helping her run 13.04s. Heunis set a new personal best time running 13.23s.
“I could feel Claudia pushing from behind the whole time I raced. That was exciting. I truly believe in the principle that success begets success. One just needs to look at what is currently happening in the men’s 100 metres in South African athletics to realise it. Last week the rivalry between Akani Simbine and Thando Roto led to it being the first time that two athletes dipped under ten seconds in the same race. Hopefully my rivalry with Claudia and Maryke Brits is going to lead to something equally exciting.
“It is important to me that we leave a legacy behind. South African athletics has already got a proud history in the 400m-hurdles which was started by Llewellyn Herbert and continued by LJ van Zyl and Cornel Fredericks. Our men’s 100 metre athletes are creating a legacy. It is high time that our female athletes start doing the same. South African women’s sport is in dire need of role models.”
By Wilhelm de Swardt
