Marlie Viljoen upbeat despite SA missing three 4x400m stars for world relays

Marlie Viljoen has been thrust into the senior role in the South African women’s 4x400m team that will compete at World Athletics Relays in Gaborone at the weekend, following injuries to two teammates and one taking time off.

That is one of three combinations that reached the podium at the last competition in China a year ago, taking bronze while the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m outfits won gold.

Zeney Geldenhuys, Miranda Coetzee and Shirley Nekhubui — part of the foursome that finished third in a 3min 24.84sec national record — are missing from the 2026 edition.

Geldenhuys and Coetzee are injured while Nekhubui is taking time off for personal reasons, said Viljoen, who was named as captain of the women’s team.

But she was upbeat about the youngsters coming in, who include hurdler Tumi Ramokgopa, Christi Loggenberg, Mia de Beer and Isabella Gunter.

“This is their first senior relay team, but they’re running good times,” she said after a training session at the University of Johannesburg athletics stadium on Wednesday morning. “They deserve to be in this team. It’s just a matter of doing it on the day.

“Everyone’s still motivated …. The vibes are high.”

Viljoen, who set a 50.82 400m best in Gaborone on Sunday, said the plan was to try to ensure all the South African teams qualified.

“We’re going to enter the fastest teams into the heats just to make that final because the mixed [4x400m] team needs to qualify for the Ultimate World Champs in Budapest in August.”

The inaugural showpiece will feature only two relay events ― the mixed 4x400m and mixed 4x100m. A mixed 4x100m South African team did not qualify for World Relays, the qualifying event for a truncated world championship later this year.

“I think with the team we have, we can definitely manage that,” added Viljoen, who is likely to run in the heats of the mixed relay on Saturday.

The finals of the events are on Sunday.

Sinesipho Dambile, who clocked a 19.77 in the 200m in Nairobi this past Saturday, and Bradley Nkoana, owner of the men’s 4x100m third leg since 2024, were not at practice on Wednesday morning, but Athletics South Africa (ASA) high performance manager Hezekiel Sepeng said they would join the squad later in the day.

“They’re just sorting out some things, but they will join us.”

Akani Simbine echoed that. “They’re going to be in here [for the afternoon training session]. They just had other commitments … we’ll put everything together.”

The sprint star, who anchored the national team to Olympic silver at Paris 2024 and gold at last year’s World Relays, was confident in his team for Gaborone.

I always say when you go into competition, you need to know your competitors. With our team and the guys we have, I know we can compete against the other teams

—  Akani Simbine

“I know that we have a good team that can actually compete against the guys that are there,” he said.

“I always say when you go into competition, you need to know your competitors. With our team and the guys we have, I know we can compete against the other teams.”

One of the major threats is the Canadian outfit that is sporting the same foursome that won Olympic gold at Paris 2024 and silver at the 2025 world championships.

But a full-strength South African team of Cheswill Johnson, Dambile, Nkoana and Simbine — Dambile, Nkoana and Simbine competed together last year — should be a force.

At the Simbine Classic on Tuesday, Simbine clocked the fastest 100m — quicker than Canadian speed star Andre De Grasse — and Johnson outpaced the other Canadian in the field, Aaron Brown.

Nkoana has also shown good form this season.

The squads, which will be finalised later on Wednesday, are due to fly out on Thursday morning.

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