JOHANNESBURG – Racing to a new personal best 100m dash, top female short hurdler Rikenette Steenkamp signalled an end to her injury woes.
Steenkamp shaved 0.40 seconds off her previous best in the flat 100m at a Athletics Gauteng North league meeting in Pretoria over the weekend.
She finished behind training partner Tebogo Mamatu, who crossed the line and equalled her second-fastest time, clocking 11.45.
A week ago Steenkamp, dipped 0.01 below her 100m hurdles best time, but it could not be considered an official performance due to the +2.7 metres per second tailwind.
Although it was a wind-assisted time, it was an important feat for Steenkamp.
“The hurdles is very technical, so now it is just about converting that speed over the hurdles, which I believe I am capable of doing,” Steenkamp said.
Steenkamp had been battling with a niggling ankle injury since 2015, which turned out to be Os Trigonum Syndrome – which is an accessory bone that developed behind the ankle bone.
At the beginning of last year, she had an operation to have the extra bone removed, which resulted in months of intense rehabilitation.
With the debilitating condition behind her, Steenkamp is back on track to become only the second South African woman to dip below 13 seconds in the 100m hurdles.
Steenkamp will be looking to improve Corien Botha’s national record of 12.94, set back in 1998 in Salamanca, Spain.
The 24-year-old Steenkamp admits she would have to regularly post sub-13-second times if she wanted to be considered a world-class athlete.
Athletics South Africa’s (ASA) strict qualifying standards for the IAAF World Championships in London in August will require Steenkamp to smash Botha’s record with a time of 12.77s.
“You have to think in those terms (sub-13 seconds) if I want to post a world qualifying time, my head is already there,” Steenkamp said.
Mamatu would also have to shave 0.30 off her personal best to earn selection for the world championships.
Speaking ahead of the inaugural ASA relay camp in Pretoria, Mamatu said while she did not have specific times in mind, her aim was to qualify for the global showpiece.
“I would love to consistently run an 11.0 or an 11.1, so I will have to smash my PB,” Mamatu said.
Hammer thrower Renaldo Frechou, who posted a personal best distance of 70.21 metres three weeks ago, won on his home ground with a best heave of 67.22m.
At the same meeting, Clarence Munyai opened his season with a solid 100m time of 10.28, equalling the personal best he set last year, while fellow Olympian Alyssa Conley won the women’s 200m with a time of 23.68.