Johannesburg – Sprinting prodigy Anaso Jobodwana believes he can break the South African 100 and 200 metres records with some fine tuning.
“I think it's possible. There are a few technicalities to work on in my race, which will set me up for those feats,” Jobodwana
said on Wednesday.
The lanky 20-year-old from East London threatened both national sprint records at a United States collegiate meeting in Greenboro, North Carolina, last week.
Jobodwana clocked 20.13 seconds in the 200m to threaten Morne Nagel’s national record of 20.11 set in 2002. That performance was the third fastest in the world this year behind Jamaican athletes Nickel Ashmeade and Warren Weir.
“I didn't expect to run this fast so early, especially in the 200m, as it was my second race (over the distance) this season,” Jobodwana said.
He also clocked 10.10 seconds in the 100m at the same meeting, narrowly missing the national mark of 10.06, jointly held by Simon Magakwe and Johan Rossouw.
Jobodwana, who has reached the qualifying standard in both events for this year's IAAF World Championships, first rose to prominence when he competed against world record holder Usain Bolt in the 200m final at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
While he was careful to make predictions, he believed with hard work he could become the first South African to run under 10
seconds in the 100m event.
“I just want to improve my times steadily and work on it every time I race, stay healthy and be able to compete with the best in the world,” he said.
Following his exploits at the London Games, Jobodwana's father, Mkhuseli, declared a feast of two cows on his return to South Africa.
A student at Jackson State University in the US, Jobodwana said plans for that celebration had been placed on hold because of other commitments.
“I've been at school and I was supposed to go back in June but I had to cancel since I have to prepare for the World Student Games (in Russia in July).” – Sapa