31 May 2013
South African athlete Anaso Jobodwana has been making waves with his recent performances in the 100 and 200 metres. He recently qualified for both events at the IAAF World Championships, which take place in Moscow in August.
A finalist in the 200 metres at the 2012 London Olympic Games at just 19 years of age, Jobodwana came close to the South African records in both events while competing for the Jackson State University Tigers in a track and field meeting on the North Carolina A&T State campus in Greensboro, North Carolina last week.
Outstanding 200 metres time
He posted the fastest 200 metres time in the entire National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the national governing body for US college athletics, by some way, clocking 20.13 seconds, which was the third-fastest time in the world this year, behind only Jamaica’s Nickel Ashmeade (20.00) and Warren Weir (20.11).
Besides being an NCAA best, Jobodwana’s 20.13 was also just outside Morne Nagel’s South African record, which stands at 20.11 seconds.
When he entered the Olympic Games in 2012, his best time was 20.32 seconds. In the semi-finals, he lowered that mark to 20.27 seconds. Clearly, his progression is not over.
100 metres
Jobodwana also ran a time of 10.10 seconds in the 100 metres in Greensboro, which was just four-hundredths of a second outside the South African national record of 10.06, shared by Johan Rossouw and Simon Magakwe. He believes that the magical 10-second barrier is within his reach.
Only two college athletes have gone faster than Jobodwana in the 100m sprint this year.
Besides qualifying him for the IAAF World Championships, Jobodwana’s times also qualified him for the NCAA Track and Field Championships, which take place in Eugene, Oregon from 5 to 8 June.
He is the reigning South Western Athletic Conference champion in both events.
‘I didn’t expect to run this fast’
Commenting on his excellent performances, Jobodwana told the South African Press Assocatio (Sapa): “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.
“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.
