Cape Town - It was certainly not a “smooth race” in Doha, but Wenda Nel hopes to have sorted out her stride patterns in time for Sunday’s Diamond League in Rabat.
And if she can do that, bursting through the sub-54-second barrier in the 400m hurdles might be closer than she thinks ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio.
Nel ran a thrilling time of 54.84 in winning the South African title in Stellenbosch last month, but followed it up with a 55.17 in the opening Diamond League meet in Doha two weeks ago.
While not a bad time, it represented a step backwards, although it didn’t bother Nel too much. She has a point, too, as many of the top athletes are slowly building up towards the August Olympics.
World champion Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic opened her 2016 season with a 55.69 to end third on home soil in the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava on Friday night, with Jamaican sensation Kaliese Spencer second in 55.43. Poland’s Joanna Linkiewicz took the honours with 55.40.
“I wouldn’t say the 55.17 is pathetic, as it was about 0.3 seconds off my time from the SA nationals. My stride pattern didn’t work out as well as I would’ve hoped – I am busy experimenting and I am using these races ahead of me to experiment and see what works,” Nel told Independent Media before travelling to Morocco.
“Between some of the hurdles I made too many strides and between others, there were too few. That is how I am going to learn from each race and that is why I am excited, because it was certainly not a smooth race. So with all the mistakes I made, and I could still run a low 55-second time, it makes me excited to think that if I were to have that perfect race, I could drop (my time) by almost a second.
“That’s the thing with hurdles – not every race is a perfect race. You tend to learn from each one and you use what you did wrong to build on the next one.”
Nel ended seventh in the world championships final in Beijing in 54.94, with Hejnova winning in 53.50. The bronze medal was clinched by American Cassandra Tate in 54.02, and that is the standard Nel is hoping to reach to contend for an Olympic medal.
Incidentally, Tate will also be lining up in Rabat on Sunday, along with Jamaican Janieve Russell, who came fifth in Beijing last year in 54.64.
The 27-year-old Nel – with a personal best of 54.37 that was set last year – doesn’t want to look too far ahead at this stage of the season. But she does have good memories of Morocco, having won the last African Championships in Marrakech in 2014.
“No (sub-54-second time), not on Sunday! I’m keeping that time for closer to the bigger races. I don’t think I am looking to run under 54 seconds now already. If I can run consistently in the 54 seconds in the upcoming races, then that breakthrough will come,” she said.
“But I’m not pushing for it – I’m patient about it, so I want to keep it for the right time. You learn from your experiences in previous years, and you try to do something different every year to peak at the right time. So we’ll see what happens this year.
“You just focus on your own race and stride-patterns, so you don’t worry too much about the other runners. It’s also the first Diamond League in Africa, so we are making history – I can say I was part of it!”
Nel will be joined in Rabat by five other South Africans – Caster Semenya (800m), Carina Horn (100m), Ruswahl Samaai (long jump), Antonio Alkana (110m hurdles) and Dumisane Hlaselo (1 500m).
Meanwhile, there will be another five local athletes in action on Sunday in The Netherlands for the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo. National sprint queen Alyssa Conley will be the only SA female taking part, where she will face Dutch star Dafne Schippers in the 200m.
Victor Hogan will be looking to get closer to the 70-metre mark in the discus, while the remaining South Africans are 5 000m ace Elroy Gelant, 800m runner Rynardt van Rensburg and long jumper Dylan Cotter.