'There is definitely a 44 in his system' - coach Wentzel backs Okon to go sub 45 at SA Champs

Even without defending champion Lythe Pillay who has chosen to compete in the opening Diamond League event of the season, the men’s 400m competition at the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Senior Track & Field Championships this weekend, promises to be a memorable encounter. Fresh off a new 44.68 personal best at the Golden Grand Prix Inter Continental Meeting in Botswana, Olympian Zakithi Nene will go up against reigning World Junior Champion Udeme OKON in his first real battle for the senior national title. 

Okon's coach Lyle Wentzel is confident that his 19-year-old charge can emerge victorious, especially after downing Pillay, who also won the World U20 400m title in 2022, in a thrilling one lap encounter at the second ASA Grand Prix Meet at the University of Johannesburg last month. After a fast start from Pillay, Okon was forced to dig deep and produced a personal best 45.27 to win the race. Wentzel says this is the sort of competition the teenager needs.

Okon will be represent Central Gauteng Athletics at the national championships which takes place at the Ken McArthur Stadium in Potchefstroom from 24-26 April. Photo Credit: Cecilia van Bers.

"What I liked about the competition at the ASA Grand Prix with Lythe (Pillay) is that Udeme has never had competition like that before where he had to fight until the end. In the first 200m he’s always in the lead. But this one they were going together until the home straight. So there is competition now."

To ready him for this weekend’s competition against Nene at the Ken McArthur Stadium in Potchefstroom, Wentzel has put Okon through more 200m races this season. Now running in Puma spikes, Okon clocked a personal best 20.36 to win the Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) provincial championships in mid-March - performance which came after an eye-catching 31.83 over 300m during which he beat World Championships 200m finalist Luxolo Adams and former SA 200m champion Sinesipho Dambile.

"He has the capabilities to run a 43. He has the capabilities to run a 19 as well. Obviously the 200m pool is a lot bigger than what the 400m pool is. He can pay the bills with either the 400m or the 200m, but I feel that in the 400m he will succeed a little bit more. The 200m is shaping him to be better in the 400m. That’s why we’ve been running so many 200m races and less 400m races."

This encouraging early season form and strong competition from Nene who has made no secret of the fact that he intends to win his third national 400m title, Wentzel is expecting his lanky sprinter to use the national championships to dip below 44.85 and qualify to represent the country at his first senior World Championships event in Tokyo in September.

Okon in action during the ASA Grand Prix where he set his career best 45.27. Photo Credit: ASA Media.

"That’s definitely in the plans. When we won the World U20 Champs last year we sat down and planned and saw that we have more in the tank. We looked at the world Championships qualifiers which have come down but we embraced the challenge. We have never hot a 45 flat before, however I know he has the potential to do that. If you look at the 300m he ran at the Curro Classic Shootout that is a clear indication that there is definitely a 44 in his system."