Matodzi Ndo Carries South Africa’s Hurdles Hopes to Eugene, USA
Far from being intimidated, Ndo says he is motivated: “This is my only chance to compete at the World Junior Championships, so I must make it count.”
South Africa’s rising star Matodzi Ndo will line up at the World Junior Athletics Championships in Eugene, USA, with a national junior record and global recognition already to his name.
In March, the Tuks athlete stormed to victory at the South African Junior Championships in Germiston, clocking 48.64 seconds in the 400m hurdles — the fastest by any South African this year, 12th on the U20 all-time list, and one of the 32 quickest times worldwide in 2026. Only Japan’s Taiju Gdo has gone faster among juniors this season.
Far from being intimidated, Ndo says he is motivated: “This is my only chance to compete at the World Junior Championships, so I must make it count.”
His journey has been marked by resilience. In 2024, he broke the South African U18 record in the 110m hurdles (12.98s), yet admits there was a time he hated the event.
“Being a good hurdler requires long, hard hours. At one point, it just got too much for me. I stopped. Luckily, someone talked me into competing again. Over time, I learned to love hurdles.”
While Ndo’s rise is grabbing headlines, the broader picture of South African athletics reveals a surprising truth: the 400m hurdles, not the 100m sprint, is the nation’s strongest event on the world all-time list.
Five South Africans feature in the global top 100 — LJ van Zyl, Llewellyn Herbert, Ockert Cilliers, Alwyn Myburgh, and Cornel Fredericks — compared to just three in the 100m (Akani Simbine, Benjamin Richardson, Gift Leotlela).
Yet the men’s 400m hurdles has become a Cinderella event in recent years. Since 2017, only five athletes have broken 49 seconds, and the last medal at a world championship came in 2018 when Sokwakhana Zazini triumphed at the World Juniors.
With Ndo’s breakthrough, South Africa may be on the brink of reviving its proud hurdles tradition. He will be joined in Eugene by fellow Tuks athletes Lesibe Dikgale, Zattu Hlongwane, Tumi Ramokgopa, Carise van Rooyen, and Zanté van der Merwe, all eager to make their mark.
The full story was published on the Tuk’s website.
©Higher Education Media Services.