Hurdlers LJ van Zyl and Wenda Nel produced power performances this week as they unwittingly highlighted a problem in South Africa's qualifying criteria for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
SA's athletes and other hopefuls wanting to compete at the international showpiece in Glasgow from July 23 to August 3 must be ranked in the top five in the Commonwealth.
That means borderline athletes are unlikely to be certain of a place in the team until the May 31 qualification deadline for track and field. And if they are unsure early that month, when the international season clicks into full gear, do they focus on preparation hoping they make it?
Or do they instead look toimprove their qualifying efforts and risk forcing themselves to double-peak?
Van Zyl and Nel posted the world's leading times in the men's and women's 400m hurdles for this year so far - clocking 48.98sec and 55.57s respectively at the DP de Villiers Stadium in Sasolburg on Tuesday night.
For Van Zyl it was his fastest effort since 2011, when he had his best season to date, breaking the SA record and taking bronze at the World Championships.
For Nel it was the third-fastest time of her career.
Their times, as world leaders, will certainly be overtaken long before the qualifying deadline, but will they still be in the top five in the Commonwealth come end of May?
Neither Van Zyl nor Nel complained about the qualifying criteria. "I need to do a 48.6 to be safe," Van Zyl predicted after his blistering run.
"I'm hoping to go to the Commonwealth Games - if they take me," smiled Nel.
Several top Commonwealth nations have stipulated qualifying times - as opposed to rankings - and Van Zyl and Nel would have cruised England's criteria (49.1sec for men and 56s for women), as well as Australia's (49.2s and 56s).
But, based on last year's rankings, their times would be outside the Commonwealth top five.
"I'm hoping to get to 54.8s by the end of the year," said Nel, adding she was also eyeing the African Championships and European competitions.
Asked what she had done to turn her fortunes around after a dismal 2013, Nel replied she had quit her job as a dietician.
