On Sunday in Oregon, USA, Tumi Ramokgopa achieved something very few South African athletes have: winning medals in two hurdle events at a World Championship.
The Tuks BA-general student finished second in the 400 m hurdles, running 55.88s. It is a personal best. On Saturday, she finished second in the final of the 100m hurdles (12.96s). At the moment, Ramokgopa is the second-fastest under-20 athlete in the world in the 100m hurdles and the fourth-fastest in the 400m hurdles.
What makes Ramokgopa's performances remarkable is that she competed in two finals and a semifinal within less than 24 hours. On Saturday, within an hour of competing in the 100m hurdles, she was in action in the 400m hurdles semifinal. Yesterday, a little over 20 hours later, she competed in the 400m hurdles final.
Her coach, George Bradley, said this morning that Ramokgopa was dead tired before yesterday's final.
"But she's so tough. The guys who are knowledgeable about world athletics history say no woman has ever won medals in both hurdles events at the Junior or Senior World Championships."
After Ramokgopa competed in the final and semifinal on Saturday, Bradley said, "It's going to take a hell of a lot for Tumi to pick herself up again. What she's trying to do is basically impossible."
But then again, Bradley said before Worlds, what impresses him about Ramokgopa is her mindset.
"She does not doubt her ability. The bigger the moment, the better she runs. She is absolutely determined. It is a great asset for any athlete."
Why did you decide to compete in both hurdle events, knowing that it is going to be a tall order?
"Before the World Championships, I asked Tumi if she wanted to choose between the two hurdle numbers. As a coach, I believe the final decision rests with the athlete. It is the athlete who does the hard work. I have seen athletes fail to win anything because they opted to compete in too many events. Tumi threw me a curveball when she said she would compete in both.
"What helped us a lot was that a former Tuks medical student who now lives in Tampa, Florida, invited Tumi to come stay with them before the championships so she could acclimatise."
It is interesting to note that Ramokgopa did not compete in any race for more than three months before the championships. Her last race before Worlds was on April 28 at Pilditch. That day her time was also 12.96s.
Bradley said the plan was for her to compete in Europe, but because her US visa application was not finalised, she could not.
"I then had to adjust her training to include what we call race simulation. In the last simulation, a week before the championships, she ran a time faster than 13 seconds in the 100m hurdles."
Bradley admits that Ramokgopa will have to choose between the 100 and 400m hurdles at some point.
"If she doesn't do it, I might die an early death as a coach," Bradley joked.
Tuks's Matodzi Ndo finished third in the 400m hurdles final, running 49.90s. Zattu Hlongwane (Tuks) was part of the men's 4x100m relay team that finished sixth in the final. The team's time of 39.48s is a season's best.