SA 800m star Prudence Sekgodiso thrilled with ‘MR PB’ after stunning run in Ostrava

“MR PB!!” That was how South African superstar Prudence Sekgodiso reacted after running her fastest ever 800m time in Ostrava, Czech Republic on Tuesday night.

The 23-year-old middle-distance athlete clocked a stunning time of 1 minute 57.16 seconds (1:57.16) to clinch victory at the Golden Spike meeting.

That eclipsed her previous personal best of 1:57.26 that she posted in Morocco last year, and it is also the second-quickest effort in 2025, behind the world lead of 1:56.64 by Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma.

Having endured a few uncharacteristic defeats in recent weeks, Sekgodiso bounced back to remind her rivals that she is building up to September’s world championships in Tokyo in fine fashion as she inches closer and closer to Caster Semenya’s amazing SA record of 1:54.25.

With two pacemakers taking the field through a reasonably quick time on the first lap, Sekgodiso kept her cool in third place as she waited for the right moment to strike.

The current 800m world indoor champion pounced when the second pacemaker stepped off the track around the 650m mark, striding away from Ethiopia’s Nigist Getachew on the home straight to claim a superb triumph, with her training partner Oratile Nowe of Botswana finishing fast to grab second position in 1:57.49.

Sekgodiso screamed in delight after looking up at the stadium clock and realising that she had set a new PB, which was also a new meeting record – beating the previous mark of 1:57.72, set by Mozambique legend Maria Mutola in 2004.

SA ultra-distance star Gerda Steyn was among the well wishers on Sekgodiso’s Instagram post, stating “Amazing!!!!!”

Sekgodiso added that her next competition will be the Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon on July 5.

Meanwhile, there was another South African in top form in Ostrava in the shape of javelin-thrower Douw Smit.

The SA champion took a surprise lead early on in the competition with a new personal best distance of 84.12m, beating his previous mark of 83.29m.

But Potchefstroom’s Smit had to settle for second place in the end, with India’s 2024 Olympic silver medallist and current world champion Neeraj Chopra taking the honours with an 85.29m throw.

Smit, though, will be delighted to have beaten Grenada superstar Anderson Peters, who finished third in 83.23m.

“What a night! 4 throws over 80m and a new PB of 84.12m! Huge thanks to @zlatatretra for the invite, unforgettable evening! Baie dankie coach @chrisdb007_ en @potchtrackclub,” Smit posted on his Instagram account.

Two other South African athletes in action at the Mestsky Stadium were in the 1,500m event, although they ran in different races.

New SA record-holder Tshepo Tshite had to settle for ninth spot in 3:34.14 – well short of his national mark of 3:31.35 that he set at the Paris Diamond League last week, while Luan Munnik also came ninth in the other 1,500m race in 3:36.89.