South African women’s hurdler Marione Fourie in action during a race Marione Fourie will be hoping to perform at her best in the Paris Olympics as she hopes to make the final of the women’s 100m hurdles. Picture: Reg Caldecott
There are only two South African female athletes ranked in the top-20 in the world in their respective events ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Rising 800m star Prudence Sekgodiso is one of them, while Marione Fourie is the other.
Sekgodiso, has clocked a time of 1:57.26 in the women’s 800m which is the third fastest time this season.
Fourie, meanwhile, ran 12.49 seconds in the 100m-hurdles, which is the 15th fastest in the world this season.
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— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) August 5, 2022
ICYMI: #TeamSA's sprinter, Marione Fourie finished 3rd in her heat - 13.04. #B2022 #CommonwealthGames pic.twitter.com/b4RbuFuAJw
Fourie, trained by Jaun Strydom at Tuks, certainly has been in splendid form since recovering from an injury. She finished in the top three in all nine races this season, winning five. Fourie was second once and third on four occasions. Her slowest race was 13.03, and her fastest was 12.49, a new South African record.
Her times in the last four European races were 12.60, 12.49, 12.56 and 12.50.
Running quicker than 12.60 is a benchmark when competing in the 100m hurdles. At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and 2017 World Champs, a time of 12.55 seconds would have been good enough to win silver, and during the 2020 Tokyo Games, bronze.
According to Strydom, the goal is for Fourie to make it to the final at the Paris Games.
"To do so means Marione needs to be fast, really fast. The 100m hurdles is currently one of the most competitive events in women's athletics. The time gap between the 15 fastest athletes is a mere 0.24 seconds. Marione might have to come close to running a personal best time to qualify for the final."
Strydom said Fourie is particularly disciplined and focused.
"What helps is that Marione utterly trusts me as her coach. She is also very driven. She wants to be one of the best. It helps that she has "BMT" (big match temperament). She is not allowing herself to be intimidated by her opponents's reputations. All that matters to her is to execute each to near perfection.”
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