Not even a “technical difficulty” could stop in-form Marioné Fourie from clocking a world lead time in the 100m hurdles at the Athletics South Africa Grand Prix 2 in Johannesburg on Wednesday night.
While Bayanda Walaza was again the talk of the town for his SA 200m junior record of 20.08 seconds, Fourie also reminded everybody of her talents.
Two personal bests' in one week:
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) March 19, 2025
Men's 200m PB - 20.08 (unofficial) ✅
Men's 100m PB - 9.99 (unofficial) ✅
𝑩𝑨𝒀𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑨 𝑾𝑨𝑳𝑨𝒁𝑨 𝑰𝑺 𝑭𝑨𝑺𝑻 💨#ASAGrandPrix2 pic.twitter.com/SYYBo9eLIK
The 22-year-old from Pretoria stopped the time at 12.69 seconds, which was more than two-tenths of a second quicker than the previous 2025 best of 12.91 by Cuba’s Greisys Roble in February.
Fourie went all the way to the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics last year, and will be hoping to go at least one step further and reach the final of the world championships in Tokyo in September.
She’s made a fine start to 2025, running 12.77 in the Grand Prix 1 in Pretoria last week, before finishing with 12.81 at the Gauteng North championships last weekend.
Fourie opted not to join the SA team at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China this week, and the move paid off at the University of Johannesburg stadium on Wednesday night as she recovered from a tricky start to sprint home in 12.69.
Young star Tumi Ramokgopa – the 17-year-old schoolgirl from Prestige College in North West – was actually quicker out of the blocks than Fourie, and produced a superb run to set a new SA Under-20 record of 13.22 to end second.
Here is Marione Fourie clocking a world lead time of 12.69 (unofficial) at the #ASAGrandPrix2 🔥
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) March 19, 2025
📺 Stream the meet live on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw pic.twitter.com/E5HmsaDARz
“I had a little bit of a technical difficulty in the beginning of the (race), with the blocks!” Fourie told SuperSport TV in a post-race interview.
“It didn’t want to go up, with my back leg, so I had a bit of a slower start. So that means I can go even faster.
“It’s like this mindset of mine – if someone is in front of me, I want to be in front as well.
“So, that being the competitive side of me, just wanting to win. I am always competitive, even in training as well.”
Ramokgopa was elated with her performance: “I’m overwhelmed. I’m in disbelief,” she told Athletics SA, having set a 400m hurdles personal best of 56.48 just hours earlier on Wednesday, in the Grand Prix pre-programme.
Marione Fourie has secured a world qualifying time for the World Athletics Championships 🙌
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) March 19, 2025
Tumi Ramokgopa clocked in second with a SA U20 record for 100m women's hurdles 🔥
📺 Stream #ASAGrandPrix2 on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw pic.twitter.com/0LZ2yveYwb
“I knew running against Marioné, was going to push me to run an SA record, but I didn’t think I would run this fast. This means a lot to break the record in my first year as a junior.”
But now Fourie will be taking aim at her SA record of 12.49 in the weeks to come as she gears up for the national championships in Potchefstroom from April 24-26.
“Definitely winning my fifth national championship. If I can run a 12.6 again, it would be much easier to run in the Diamond Leagues, and Hengelo as well. So ja, I’m very excited,” she said.