Zeney squeezes through in hurdles as Burkina Faso lands triple jump gold

Zeney van der Walt sneaked into the next round of the 400m hurdles as a fastest loser at the world championships in Budapest on Monday, but bowed out in the 400m semifinals.

The only other South African in action on the third day of the global showpiece, African champion Mirè Reinstorf, was unable to advance beyond the qualifying round, which started at 4.20m, five centimetres higher than her personal best.

Van der Walt finished fifth in her 400m hurdles heat in 55.21sec to take one of the four time qualifying spots for the semifinals. The fastest 15 athletes all dipped under 55.

Some two-and-a-half hours later she returned to the track, ending last in her 400m semifinal in 51.54, which is not a bad time in her secondary event.

While South Africa is still waiting to reach a podium in Hungary — the country’s biggest hope, Wayde van Niekerk, competes in the men’s 400m semifinals on Tuesday — Burkina Faso scooped gold in the men’s triple jump, courtesy of Fabrice Zango, the runner-up in 2022.

In other medal action, American Shericka Jackson upset the powerful Jamaican contingent to win the women’s 100m crown; her compatriot Grant Holloway won his third straight 110m hurdles crown; and, Daniel Stahl of Sweden took the men’s discus gold with a 71.46m championship record on his final throw.

Van der Walt, the former U-20 and U-18 world 400m hurdles champion, returns to the stadium on Tuesday for the 400m hurdles semifinals (8.25pm).

At last year’s world championships in Eugene she ran 55.05 in the heats and fell out in the semifinals after clocking 54.81, a best at the time. 

Van der Walt set her 54.47 best soon after that, winning bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year.