SA middle-distance star Prudence Sekgodiso.©Gsportgirls
Medingen-born track star Prudence Sekgodiso claimed ASA Female Track Athlete of the Year and Personality of the Year at the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Awards on Saturday night at Montecasino in Fourways, Johannesburg.
Sekgodiso’s mesmerising performances on the track, coupled with her poise and grace both on and off the field, won the admiration of the public. However, her victory was hard-fought, as she faced fierce competition from her closest competitors, Akani Simbine, Lythe Pillay, Jo-Ann Van Dyk, Adriaan Wildschutt, Elroy Gelant, Bayanda Walaza, Glenrose Xaba, Gerda Steyn, and Viwe Jingqi, to take home the evening’s top honour.
Sekgodiso thanked her fans for believing in her. “Firstly, I want to say thank you to my teammates, and my coach and shoutout to Athletics KZN, I saw they had a post in KZN. So, I’m grateful for the award and thanks to all my fans, yeah, I’m proud,” Sekgodiso said
Sekgodiso further revealed that she invested significant effort into winning the award, even spending considerable money on airtime to cast votes for herself in what she described as a highly competitive category.
“I had hope but the competition was tough, to be honest but I was like, I’m gonna buy this airtime, I’m gonna vote for myself every time. I think I bought about five sim cards just to vote for myself because I’ll vote for myself. I just kept on voting for myself and I have friends out there and they were gonna make sure that I win, so yeah,” she added.
Sekgodiso was caught by surprise when she received her first nomination and went on to win the Female Track Athlete of the Year accolade.
SA Middle distance runner Prudence Sekgodiso claimed ASA Female Track Athlete of the Year and Personality.