Cape Town - Working his way back from knee and Achilles’ injuries, Rynardt van Rensburg wouldn’t have been too disappointed to come second in the 800m at the SA championships in Stellenbosch.
But his time was a rather disappointing 1:46.58, behind the winner Jacob Rozani in 1:46.26. It was well short of the Free State athlete’s personal best of 1:45.40, which he ran in Slovenia last year and qualified him for the Rio Olympics.
Now it’s Van Rensburg will compete on the big stage ahead of the Olympics when he makes his debut in the Diamond League in Shanghai on Saturday, where he will come up against the fastest 800m runner of all time – Kenyan world record holder David Rudisha.
Van Rensburg has some international experience, and won the bronze medal at the World Student Games in Gwangju, South Korea last year.
He didn’t get through the heats at the World Championships in Beijing, though, so he has a lot to prove in 2016. And what better than running against a field that includes Rudisha, whose world mark is an incredible 1:40.91, compared to the SA record of 1:42.69 by Olympic silver medallist Hezekiel Sepeng.
The 24-year-old Van Rensburg knows that he has a long road ahead to get to that level, but perhaps he can be pushed by 2012 London Olympic champion Rudisha, while the rest of the field all have personal bests that are faster than Van Rensburg.
“I’m very excited… my shape is coming on well and I believe I’m in the same shape as last year when I ran my 1:45.40 personal best in Slovenia,” the University of Free State athlete told the Sascoc website this week.
“It’s my first Diamond League, so I definitely want to enjoy the experience, but would also like to run below 1:46.00.”
Rudisha, who won the world title in Beijing last year, sauntered to a 1:44.78 in Melbourne in March, but now he means business as he starts his build-up to Rio. “I want to run a fast time in Shanghai,” the 27-year-old told the Diamond League website in no uncertain terms.
“This is my first competition in the main season, apart from Australia. Since then I’ve done some good training back in Kenya, so I’m hoping to improve my time. I think I can run something like 1:43.50 and perhaps get a season’s best. That would be a good performance for me here.”
Van Rensburg will be joined by two other South African athletes in former 400m hurdles bronze medallist LJ van Zyl, as well as national long jump champion Ruswahl Samaai.
But one of the highlights of the second Diamond League meet should be the men’s 110m hurdles, where Olympic champion Aries Merritt continues with his recovery from a kidney transplant from last year.
He is not quite at his best yet, finishing fifth in 13.37 in Doha last week, with Jamaican world indoor champion Omar McLeod winning in a quick 13.05. McLeod is back in Shanghai, but Merritt will be supported by fellow Americans David Oliver and Jason Richardson, the 2011 world champion.
The men’s 100m will also be one to watch, with US star Justin Gatlin the clear favourite with a personal best of 9.74. His arch-rival Usain Bolt won’t be in attendance – the big Jamaican will run in the Cayman Islands instead on Saturday – but Gatlin won’t have an easy day as he will contend with countryman Mike Rodgers and 40-year-old legend Kim Collins from St Kitts and Nevis.
The women’s competition was again rocked by the late withdrawal of champion sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce due to a toe injury. Fraser-Pryce also missed the Doha meet last week, which leaves fellow Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown as the obvious front-runner in the 200m.
* Follow @IndyCapeSport on Twitter for live updates of the Shanghai Diamond League event on Saturday, which starts at 1pm.
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Independent Media