Magerman wins 400-hurdles at Southern Region Champs

South Africa’s Olympic Youth champion, Gezelle Magerman (Tuks/HPC), won the 400-hurdles at the CAA Southern Region Under-20 Championships in Lusaka.

“Naturally I would have loved to have won in a faster time than 59.18s, but for now I will take it.

“I see this year as a ‘bridging’ year, coming from high school, going to university. It is quite a change because suddenly you have to take responsibility for everything you do or don’t do. Luckily I managed to find a balance between training and studying.

Magerman’s big goal is to win a medal at next month’s IAAF Junior World Championships in Bydgoszcz, .

“I am not an athlete who believes in setting myself ‘exotic’ goals as far time is concerned. I prefer chipping away at my time, slowly working towards running that one near perfect race. If I can run 57.90s before the end of the year I will be more than satisfied,” said Magerman whose best time last year was 58.81s.

According to Magerman, the fact that she trains with the South African champion, Wenda Nel (Tuks/HPC), helps a lot.

“Training with Wenda is like having a barometer that gives me a good indication of where I am as an athlete.”

***On Friday, at the Adidas Boston Games, the world champion, Wayde van Niekerk, won the in 44.28s.

Caribbean athlete Machel Cedonio from finished second in 44.87s and America’s David Verburg rounded off the podium in 44.98s.

Akani Simbine (Tuks/HPC) finished 4th in the 100m at the same meeting, clocking a time of 10.32s. Marvin Bracy (USA) won in 10.23s and ’s was second, also in 10.23s. (Trinidad and Tobago) was third in 10.29s.

***On Saturday at the CaBW Meeting in Nivelles, , Tebogo Mamatu (Tuks) finished second in the 100m final. Jeanne Charlotte (France) won in 11.49s, with Mamatu second in 11.54 and Sanchez Mariely () third in 11.75s.

Thando Roto (Tuks/HPC) finished third in the 100m B-final. His time was 10.36s. Emile Erasmus (Tuks) was fourth in 10.39s.