'We will qualify in the 100m' – Viwe Jingqi on World Champs qualification

The blueprint to success at the World Athletics (WA) championships in Tokyo in September that coach Paul Gorries has mapped out for SA sprint queen, Viwe Jingqi, seems to be going according to plan. Jingqi is reaping the rewards of her move to the McArthur Stadium in Potchefstroom, where she set her 11.22 100m PB and broke the national U20 record in 2022, with Gorries. She started her season with a routine victory in the women's 100m at the ASA Grand Prix at the UJ Athletics Stadium on March 19, clocking 11.32 to kick-off her season, which includes detours this week's ASA U16, U18, U20 & U23 champs, the ASA senior nationals next month and the World Championships later this year.

Gorries told Jingqi in the off-season that this year "...it's the world champs and I don't want to hear anything." But the coach's plan will meet the ultimate test as Jingqi attempts to meet the 11.07 seconds and 22.57 seconds set by WA to qualify to compete in the women’s 100m and 200m. The 20-year old is positive she will qualify in the 100m but said it will be difficult in the 200m, where she has a PB of 22.96.

Jingqi will compete for Athletics Central North West at the ASA U16, U18, U20 and U23 championships this week. Photo Credit; Cecilia van Bers.

"It's more possible in the 100m. 11.22 (her 100m PB) is not so far from 11.07. The way I ran 11.2s last year was reassuring that this year, I can get that 11.07. In the 200m, I can't really promise anything honestly. I think we can get it in the 100m," she told #TheTopRunner.

The national champion who is also the holder of the SA 150m best of 16.93, admitted that to get to the finals of the women's 100m at the worlds will be tough because of the standard set at the Olympics in Paris.

"I'll be honest, the standard is very high. Last year, lots of ladies had to run around 10.9 seconds to get to the final. It shows how much we are levelling up in the female sprints. I think I can get to the semi-finals," she said.

Jingqi on the way to a new SA 150m best of 16.93 in February 2024. Photo Credit: Cecilia van Bers.

Drawing from her lessons from last year's world junior championships in Lima, where she placed fifth in the 100m final in 11.57, Jingqi said stepping up and having an international racing mindset is very important.

"I can have a national mindset but an international mindset is something else. I'm a person who can step up nationally because I feel like I have people on my level and can be above them sometimes. But when I get to people on my level internationally and those better than me, I tend to doubt myself. The world juniors were a reassurance that when we get to the line-up, we are all the same. It doesn't matter if a person has a 10.9 or 11.2, anything is possible. More than anything, I had so much self-doubt last year. But this year, we need the confidence to be up there."